The Prettiest Girl
by speedrunner
Summary: Sometimes, what men said out loud was different with what they whispered ...
1. The Prologue

This is my second story ever! I have this fondness toward Ino and I think she suited everyone just perfectly fine! So here I am. I'm trying to make this multi chaptered so look forward to it. :)

And by the way, of course Naruto is not mine, so .. Enjoy!

XXX

Sai sighed as he put his pen on his desk and looked at his recently done writing. The title was 'The Prettiest Girl' followed with lines of his scribbles. He took his book, and decided to reread it:

**The Prettiest Girl**

Who's the prettiest girl in Konoha? Lots of people would think that it was a certain pink haired medic kunoichi: Haruno Sakura. It was quite a good assumption, and it's almost surprising to think that apparently, after a long talk with a lot of people, in the end those men whispered another name: Yamanaka Ino. It's interesting that almost every man who knows the florist had feelings for her.

Naruto knew that he had feelings for her but never showed it. Sakura was somehow an easier option to like, and moreover, the pink haired kunoichi seems like to be more in his league. To the jinchuuriki, Ino, the girl with the highest score that even beat Sasuke's, was out of his reach and even though he hated to admit it, in his eyes, the Yamanaka girl only fitted elite ninja like Sasuke or Neji or Gaara. Maybe somewhere in the back of his mind, she was the reason he was so eager to be part of those elites. He wanted to be able to stand next to her equally, and finally be granted the right to have feelings for her. Until that day comes, well, Sakura will do.

Sasuke of course had always hold interest in her. She was the only person who could beat his grades during their academy days after all. Plus, he would be lying if he said that she was not pretty and attractive. But that was all there is to it; things like relationship was not his main concern at that moment. Revenge was. Despite all of that, it doesn't mean that Sasuke never promised himself that once the whole revenge things is done, then he was going to take her and claim his prize. When he left Konoha, he had a lot of wants and hopes; almost all of them were toward Orochimaru. Only two things were about Konoha. The first was that Naruto could come back safely to Konoha. The second was the one he was ashamed to admit. He hoped that when he came back to Konoha with the entire burden gone, Ino would still have feelings for him. He seriously hoped so.

Ino was supposed to be this vain and shallow girl who only cares about appearance and clothes. That's why it is quite shocking for the Aburame Shino to find out that she was the only person in his group of friends that doesn't back away from his long talk about philosophy of everything. She's the only one who would look at him, fascinated about what he said and asked him more about it. But Shino of course was not ignorant enough to see the amount of men that have feelings for her. Kiba tensed and getting all awkward when she was around and Naruto would stop talking about Sakura. He also couldn't miss the way that Neji suddenly cared too much about the Hyuuga business with the Yamanaka clan whenever he approached Ino. Her teammate, Shikamaru said that she was troublesome almost all the time, but he went to a great length for her. But the one that was so obvious was how his heart reacted whenever the blonde girl approached him whether to vent or simply to talk. He felt extremely proud whenever she dragged him around to accompany her to the mall or to the restaurant, even though he never told her that. She would hand him a scoop of chocolate ice cream everytime she dragged him around against his will. Shino would silently eat his chocolate ice cream, and thought about asking her out for more. Not just as a simple hang out, but as a date. Of course, no matter how good Shino at words, he couldn't find the right words to ask her simply that.

The first thing that attracted Kiba to Ino was because she smelled so damn good at all times. And much to his delight, he was paired with Ino a lot of times for spying or items retrieving mission. Ino would boss him around even if she was not the leader of the mission, but somehow it amused him. He had known a lot of women all his life, but most of them were taking things to the extreme. His mother and his sister were the rough women. He could swear that never for even once in his life he saw his mother crying. Her mother grinned more than she smiled and she was really atrocious in the battlefield. His sister might be more girlish than his mother, but she was still the ultra rough type and the memory of her so-called-bullying toward him during their childhood was not something that Kiba could easily forget. Another kind of woman he knew well was obviously his teammate, Hinata. The girl was extremely delicate that Kiba had to think twice whenever he wanted to talk with her. She was so fragile that Kiba was so afraid of breaking her. Ino, on the other side, was the ideal girl in his eyes. She was indeed harsh and always nags and criticizes him almost all the time, but she was so gentle and loving toward Akamaru that it almost made him jealous toward his dog. That alone was more than enough reason for him to love her. But the sight that he loved the most was when they went across a flower field during one of their mission. It was like he saw a completely different side of Ino that was so lovable. She laughed and talked to those flowers with delight, as if they were her old friends. They spent hours and hours at the field and Kiba was aware that they were wasting their precious time, but he couldn't bring himself to remind her about that. Not when her expression was like that. By the time she's done with the flowers, she stood up with a satisfied expression. She then noticed the wasted time she spent and asked him as to why he didn't remind her. "You looked so happy that I'm afraid that if I disturbed you you would've cut my heads off." He had said, pretending to be ignorant and all. Ino was of course, deeper than that. She cracked one of her rarest smile and as if it weren't enough to make the canine tamer blush, she leaned in to give him a small peck on the cheek. "Gee, Kiba. You're hot and sometimes you're nice too!" She had said that and went ahead of him. Kiba followed her with a blush on his face before a grin followed. Maybe those wasted times will increase the probability of failing the mission. It was all worth it.

Neji took interest in Ino after they were told to disguise as a couple in Star village during a three month mission. He hated it at first, he was not familiar with this certain girl, and she was awfully demanding and loud. Neji would say something that was supposed to hurt her or threaten her, but she was not backing away anymore out of fear like how she used to be and would just loudly get him an equally snarky reply and continued her nagging. He had tried to attack her lightly, when he couldn't hold her nagging anymore. But she didn't budge. She eyed him bravely and that moment he had noticed that her new mentor, Morino Ibiki, had trained her harshly. She had nothing to fear anymore. Neji had hated the fact, but by the time they arrived at the village, Ino changed into … how a wife should be and he had to say that he liked what he saw. She did all the house chores, and even though Neji gave up eating at home after one meal of her cooking that tasted like a burned … something, she was still a good pretend wife. She talked to fellow housewives, earning information by gossiping with them, and before he knew it, he was used to it. He really was thinking that he was the husband and before he knew it, he grew feelings for her, and at one time, when she kissed him on a decisive party on the village, he couldn't fight it anymore. He's going to tell her his feelings after this mission's done. It's too bad that, by the time they went back to the village, she was immediately sent again to a mission where Asuma died. When she came back, everyone he knew seems to gravitate toward her, and that's when he realized that he was not the only one in love with this blonde. After that, Neji decided that he's going to make Ino fell head over heels with him before he told her everything.

XXX

Sai sighed and closed his book. Why Ino? She was sure beautiful but he still couldn't quite catch as to why men liked her. He leaned on his chair and looked outside the window. Speak of the devil, the platinum blonde was seen walking outside with one of her teammate, Shikamaru. Sai raised his eyebrows in amusement and decided that maybe he should research more tomorrow.

**How is it? Please review! :) I would like to know your comment on this :)**


	2. Shiranui Genma

**Hi! I'm finally able to write again after such a long time! Unlike the previous chapter which kinda crammed everyone into one chapter, I decided to elaborate one relationship in a chapter right now. At last, have fun and enjoy reading!**

Fall was reaching to its end the first time Shiranui Genma met Yamanaka Ino. The young shinobi had just finished his very first S-rank mission with his teammates which consists of Sarutobi Asuma, Hatake Kakashi and Yamanaka Inoichi, the leader of the mission who invited all of them for a dinner to his house the night after the mission. He was welcomed warmly by the graceful wife of Inoichi and were invited inside before she was gone to something that looked like a kitchen and that was when he met her, clutching at her teddy bear so tightly while studying three strangers at her doorstep.

"Who's that?" Genma asked his two companions in a hushed tone.

"The daughter of Inoichi-san, I guess?" Kakashi answered absent-mindedly as he took off his sandals. Genma strutted forward, getting him closer to the girl. He then extended his hand to hold up her small chin for a better look. Cerulean eyes bravely met his.

"Such a beautiful girl." He sighed in what sounds like a mix of awe and exasperation, "Grow up well and you can be my bride." It was a tease and he was hoping that the girl would blush out of embarrassment but she stayed still.

The cerulean eyes kept watching him before she finally said something.

"You are a womanizer aren't you?" She said in an all-knowing tone that successfully earned her stifled chuckle from both Kakashi and Asuma. Genma raised his eyebrows at the statement.

"Ah, womanizer's too strong of a word." He squatted so his height would level with hers.

"How old are you, little girl?" He asked in an old-fashioned tone.

"I am 6 and my name is Yamanaka Ino," She said, "And your senbon is almost pricking at my eye." It was then when Inoichi's voice heard along with his heavy footsteps toward the front step.

"Dammit Shiranui! Don't you start poisoning my daughter! " Genma raised his eyesbrows at the voice as he grinned at the blonde girl and stood up.

"What did you tell my daughter? Ino, what did he tell you?" Inoichi hugged his daughter in a protective stance. Genma was about to deny that he said anything but Ino looked up to her father with an innocent smile.

"Player-san told me that I can be his bride if I grew up well."

Inoichi's eyes went white with shock. "OVER MY DEAD BODY YOU DAMN PERVERTED SHIRANUI BASTARD!" His voice had echoed throughout the house, and the neighborhood, possibly.

Shiranui Genma never got a moment of peace from Inoichi's berating that night.

.

.

And then the years gone by like seconds and he found himself looking eyes to eyes with the very same cerulean eyes once again ten years later. It was amusing and odd at the same time that they hadn't had any direct contact for a straight ten years. They passed each other on roads, and it was always a slight nod or a civil smile, nothing more. There are some parts of him that was getting curious when he found out that she was in one of his closest friend's tutelage. Asuma's response had been rather secretive and dismissing when he asked about her.

"She's so bossy you won't want her to be your bride." Asuma had said while taking a deep inhale on his cigarette, grinning at him. It sounded just like a joke from an old friend but as he pushed on it, Asuma definitely sounded like he didn't want to be asked about Ino and Genma decided to back off and changed the topic. Unlike Kakashi who was not very protective to Sakura regarding her personal life, Asuma was rather protective like he was the second Inoichi. He didn't understand why, seeing Asuma was not even that protective toward Kurenai by occasionally daring him to 'steal her from him if he can' and God knows he can. It's not that it hadn't crossed his mind for once or twice- Kurenai was an exceptional kunoichi afterall- but he figured that he just loved Asuma too much that he might figuratively want to steal him from her instead.

Several years later, Sarutobi Asuma died and then, for the first time in such a long time he could no longer count, he stepped into the flower shop, wanting to appreciate his best friend. He knew that Asuma would have laughed if he was to give him a real flower at real life, but he had to. It was the least thing he could do for a deceased best friend. He was not expecting Ino when he came there. It's not that he didn't know that she worked at the flower shop; but his intent on coming there was genuinely for Asuma. Therefore, as the sound of the bell tingling softly when he opened the door, a feminine figure turned around while cheerfully greeting welcome. Their eyes locked and memories in the past regarding her flooded his brain.

"Genma-san. What a rare sight." She said sweetly, "How can I help you today?"

He had hesitated when he strode across the room and went in front of the counter to get closer to her. She really had grown up to be a beautiful woman.

"Rare indeed. I don't tend to buy flowers for people." He said. Ino chuckled.

"Seeing your streak with woman, I bet it's more to get and go, right?" There was a playful tone on her voice but that meant she had heard the rumor about him, which wasn't exactly wrong actually. Shiranui Genma wasn't exactly known with his monogamy and he hadn't cared about them. He was an accomplished shinobi, a part of the elite group of Hokage Bodyguard. He knew what he wanted, he took it, and he deserved it.

It was like that at least until Ino came into the view. He was not sure whether the attraction was really there or she was just a part of his ever so long list of conquest. Nevertheless, he wanted her. How _could_ he not against those big beautiful eyes, unblemished pale white skin, rosy cheeks and pink lush lips?

"Red rose." He said, his mind already rapidly apologizing to his deceased best friend for being so easily swayed by a beautiful woman, his student to make it even worse. Ino raised her eyebrows in an amusement.

"For a girlfriend?" She had sounded thrilled at his request. He let out a small smirk for an answer.

" How big you want the roses to be?" She asked while searching for the rose pot with a garden scissor on her hand.

"Just one." He said. Ino looked at him.

"Oh, come on, are you just being cheap?" She said playfully as she did some quick work with the thorn. Genma watched her do her work while stifling a chuckle.

"No, I just know my way around the meaning of flower." He grinned. Ino smiled and handed him the flower.

"There you go; it would be 25 Ryo please." She said. Genma reached his pocket and handed her the money. She thanked him cheerfully and headed back to the counter. Genma followed her.

"So, Ino," He said, tapping the counter lightly to get the girl's attention. Ino looked at her.

"Yes?"

He handed her the rose and muster up his most charming smile.

"How about a casual cup of coffee this Saturday? My treat."

The silence after that was torturing and her giggle was a relief. She took the rose and smelled it like she wasn't the very one who cut the flower herself.

"Am I having the honor of being womanized right now?" Her smile had been bordering on turning into a smirk. Genma laughed softly.

"Well, it depends on how you like it." He leaned forward. "Do you?" He had asked those words in a low tone that was inviting with a light hint of innuendo.

Ino let out a soft chuckle.

"Well, I can't say that I'm not curious. Two can play this game, Genma-san. Let's have the coffee."

The promised Saturday came quickly and there he was, picking her up at the flower shop and after waving her goodbye to a genin girl, she walked next to him comfortably. No awkwardness whatsoever despite the ten years lost of contact.

"Is it okay to skip your duty just like that?" He asked, she had nodded and explained briefly that it was basically was not her duty. He offered her which coffee shop she wanted to and she said that it was up to him.

"So, why senbon?" Her question had popped up so suddenly while Genma was busy weighing the plus minus of each coffee shop in Konoha.

"Why not senbon?" He retorted with a smile.

"Well, not everybody bit their toothpick around all the time." She said.

"They should try, then. It's great with woman." Genma let out a sly smile and Ino laughed at his response. "How does it great?" She asked, now seemingly genuinely interested.

"It's a secret reserved for those who can handle the truth." He winked and when he saw that her lips curled into a pout, he added, "I'll give you a hint though; Women and their curiosity."

"Curiosity could kill, in fact." Ino said.

"Then aren't you here with me because of your curiosity?" Genma teased her, recalling their previous conversation. Ino lifted her chin up in vain.

"I can tread carefully around my curiosity as to not get killed." She said proudly. Genma smirked at her arrogance and patted her head.

"Now you get me curious too. You're right, Ino." He said, "Two can play this game, and let's see who get killed first."

XXX

"I can feel those envy looks from men right now." Genma joked as they sat down on the café by the roadside. Part of it was true, actually. People frowned upon them and he knew why. They must have thought that she was his newest victim of love. Other woman had been fine, but this was his best friend's student. The girl who was thousand years younger than him. And she was Ino and he was Genma; nothing could better elaborate the uniqueness of the situation but their identities. Genma knew that Ino understood this very well and yet she only looked at those people and looked back at him.

"Really? And how do you like it?" She asked, jovial.

"Fair enough." Genma smiled at her nonchalance. "But I'm serious." He added. Ino shrugged her shoulder while laughing. _She _was thinking that it was just a part of his charming flirting. Example was definitely needed.

"Now, now. Look at that Hyuuga guy who was frowning at me right now," He leaned in to her ear and said that in a hushed tone. Ino followed his line of sight to find Neji at the end of it. Ino chuckled.

"It's Neji, and he absolutely hates me." She said. Genma looked at Neji and remembered that he was the guy from the earlier chuunin exam who was beaten by Naruto.

"Hate is a strong feeling, Ino."

"Well, being stuck with a person you dislike for several months on a mission can develop into hateful feeling." Ino explained. Genma was about to ask more when he felt more menacing look toward him.

"Or that guy." He gestured to her with his eyes and Ino looked at his best friend.

"Don't you 'that guy' him, it's Shikamaru." Ino smiled.

"Shika!" She called out to him and Shikamaru shrugged his head from where his position was, acting like he hadn't watched them earlier.

"Yo."

"What are you doing there?"

"Patrolling around." He said simply but Genma knew that he was never out of the lazy genius' line of sight as he talked.

"Good luck then! And don't forget to have your lunch!" Ino said, her last sentence had been loaded with a mix of concern and nag. Shikamaru was about to open his mouth for some remarks but then closed it again; he gave Genma one more menacing look before he rolled his eyes.

"Okay." He said obediently and went out of sight.

"Don't you see that menacing look ?"

"He's not used to you, that's all." She said in an understanding tone that sounded like she had known Shikamaru for all her life. Which is probably true, anyway.

But really, was she that oblivious? Shikamaru and Neji was not the only one who had been watching them with hawk like eyes ever since they got out from the flower shop. No, Ino was much smarter than that. _Deeper_ than that.

"You are very good at feigning innocence, aren't you?" He grinned at her who chuckled.

"Why are you saying that?"

"Out of small observation." It didn't take a genius or a long time to conclude that Ino had many people who was interested in her, solely judging from those staring eyes of men in a short time they were together. And once again, Genma thought that it was impossible that she didn't know about those. She was a very vain woman bordering on narcissistic; there's no way that she didn't see that.

"Innocence had helped me a lot in the past," she mused, "And I don't see why it wouldn't help me in the future and the now." She ended those words with a sweet smile that reminded him of the very smile she gave her father before putting Genma into a night of hell several years prior.

"Help as in made men do your bid as you please?" Genma teased her.

"I was referring to how it helped me in my earlier mission." She had said that in an amused tone. "I can't say that your comment was wrong though." She winked.

"Enough of me, now, Genma-san. Now tell me about your women. There are juicy stories all over the streets about you." She smirked and Genma chuckled. He didn't see telling his history with woman will help his chance on landing her, but landing her was not really his biggest objective right now.

"Okay, live story special for my lady." He said.

And the conversations went flowing topic after topic. They talked all day and when he took her back to her home later that afternoon, he couldn't believe that he felt enriched talking to her and it felt good.

"It was fun, thanks, Genma-san." Ino said sincerely.

"The pleasure's mine."

"So, when should you be …"

_Free to have a coffee with me next time? _He wanted to say.

"Your bride?" Ino teased him. Genma looked at her in a mixture of awe and shock before she bursted out laughing.

"So you did remember. And I was asking for some more coffee dates." Genma grinned. Ino chuckled.

"I'm just kidding. As for the coffee, well, let the fate decides. Bye, Genma-san." She landed him a kiss on the cheek before turning around and walking into the house.

Genma let out a soft chuckle as he watched the girl entered her house. Earlier when he thought that landing her was not his main objective now, he had really meant it. At the moment, he only wanted to know her much better, wanted to see the endless depth of her mind, wanted to see who she really was, wanted to see what she really was up to.

Curiosity had eaten him, and he knew Ino was willing to play the game with him. Two can play the game, she had said.

He just wished that he didn't get killed first.

**How was the story? **

**And just for your information, since I feel that it's kinda unfair for those men who were in the previous chapter, I WILL post chapters about Ino's relationship with those who were in the previous chapter too.**

**What do you think? Please comment and review, it would help ^^**


	3. Sai

**Hi readers! **

**Thanks for your review in my previous chapters!**

**It's holiday already and it seems like I got too much time around so I decided to write more chapter! Pardon any of the writing mistake, I'm not very good in English as it's not my main language and finally, enjoy! **

If there were one thing that Sai could learn from Ino's whole ordeal with Genma, it was that he needed to temporarily stop himself from observing and took the action himself. After all, the only reason Sai decided to make his little research was because the subject of affection and love was still a very foreign feeling toward him. Hell, _feeling_ was a foreign subject to him until not so long ago. Nevertheless, he was a person eager to learn about human's relationship and love was not excluded. Hell, even the Kazekage held it in such high regard that he had the kanji of it carved into his forehead.

The circumstance of his research was of course perfectly understandable; isn't the first reason of anyone to be attracted to anyone else was because of their attractiveness? However, in the end, attractiveness was only the spark that ignites the fire, and it was her personality, her attitude that kept the fire blazing. Sai definitely couldn't have experienced all that just by simply watching from afar. He had to do something and as soon as he made his resolve, he went to the library and took a vast amount of book regarding love and relationship. Seeing the amount of books regarding that particular object which were there, he could tell that he was not the only one who was clueless about love. It's just that some would just charge into it without thinking but not him; he was not used going against something unprepared. This was going to be perfect. Despite his iron steel resolve, as he progressed with the books, he learned that there are so many huge boulders blocking his way toward Ino, no matter how seemingly outgoing and easy to get close to the girl is. He couldn't ask her out just out of the blue like Genma because he didn't have the necessary skill set that Genma had. He was not close with her and every book told him to start small to get close to her. Patience was always one of his virtues, but he couldn't possibly start from zero. It took the others all the years during academy days until now to be as close to her at the moment and he didn't have 10 years or more to get close to her.

His solutions had been rather brave; he was going to learn the necessary skill set in order to get close to her; just like Genma. Funnily enough, there was indeed a book which covers that: a book titled "A 10 Ways Guide to be A Playboy : How to get women fall head over heel for you". Sai had hesitated when he took the book earlier, the book was thick and small and featured very detailed pictures and some of them were not innocent, thus the dirty feeling kept overflowing when he was reading the book and he had to constantly remind himself of a certain silver haired ninja that kept himself occupied with erotic novels in public _and was totally fine with it_. The reason as to why Kakashi did that had amused him too, was there something amiss in his past? Was that to attract people? He had entertained the idea of researching about him but had to drop the research when he found out that _the damn Hatake Kakashi was too, interested on Yamanaka Ino. _Who won't be curious at Ino after that finding?

It was when he was seriously working his way throughout the book when Sakura approached her. Déjà vu, he had thought.

"Sai! What are you reading?" Sakura's greetings had been friendly and sweet while he swiftly changed his book to one of random book he was reading. He was not stupid enough to let her know what he was reading. So, when Sakura peeked the book cover, she found out the 'Love,Love,Love' book instead and she instantly frowned but then her expression when she asked him about it was amused.

"Such an interesting book to read, Sai." It can't be any more obvious that she was trying hard not to grin and Sai sighed at that. She found it funny for him to be interested in love and he perfectly understood that. He was a newbie at the whole 'emotions' things, and it could be said that love was one of the most complex emotion and he knew he was not emotional enough to feel that and that's why Sakura was laughing.

He was wrong, apparently.

"Are you interested in a girl, Sai?" There was a hint of patience on her voice that was rarely heard on Sakura's voice. She was not exactly famous for being patient after all. She sat across of him and started to look at the title of the books he read.

"Why are you smiling? Is it funny?" Sai asked and Sakura looked and him and quickly shook her head while chuckling.

"I am glad for you," She said and leaned in curiously, "So who, if I may know, is the lucky girl?"

Sai had trouble weighing the options he had. Should he tell her about Ino? Sakura was a close friend of Ino and she might be able to help, IF she wanted to help. She must have wanted to, though. By far, Ino was her biggest rival on capturing Sasuke's heart, and she knew that. Sai could easily pretend to be troubled by telling her that Sasuke was interested in her too and Sakura would be dying to help him by that time. Yes, that _is_ perfect. He could feel his mouth forming into a smirk but then he replaced it with a fake smile that he didn't expect to use ever again.

"I am interested in Ino." He had said that matter-of-factly and Sakura was taken aback. He didn't understand yet the concept of love. Should he be more embarrassed when he said that?

"Wow." Sakura's eyes were gleaming.

"So, back then when you called her beautiful …" Sakura reminisced about their previous conversation. Sai nodded and kept smiling.

"Yes, I had meant that." He said. Sakura took a short breath and looked at him in amazement and he should say that he was astonished.

"She might be playing hard to get at times, but winning her heart wasn't all that hard I think." And then she proceeded on telling him about how to make Ino's happy which basically was to feed her vanity and power craving personality. He appreciated her help but he couldn't help but not to be curious. He didn't even have to play the Sasuke card and Sakura was already so eager on helping him.

"Why are you so eager on helping me?" He asked suddenly when Sakura was amidst talking about Ino's favorite place to hang out. It was a mere millisecond but Sai could catch a glimpse of her expression that seems like she was caught doing something she shouldn't. But Sakura managed to muster up a smile and said, "I think you deserve your happiness, Sai. Loving someone could help you achieve that."

Bullshit. It must be about Ino. It had been _always_ about her.

XXX

He waited for her to walk out of the T&I department before approaching her. She noticed his presence and smiled at him.

"Hi, Sai-kun. What a wonderful afternoon." She said. Sai nodded in agreement as he joined her walk.

"What's in your mind?" She asked after a long moment of silence.

"I heard you like sweet things. Let's go to a confectionery and eat a cake together." His tone had been flat and unemotional, but Sakura previously told him that it made him 'cute' and interesting that way. Ino hadn't given him an answer for what feels like a long time that Sai started to think that she didn't listen to his previous plea.

"So you watched me from the dark for several weeks and then asked me to go out on a date? Interesting." She said out loud suddenly. Sai let out a sincere small smile. He should have expected it; of course she had realized that he had been watching her; he hadn't been too discreet about either. However, the way she talked about it, it might actually give him an advantage. She said it like he had been attracted to her for several weeks. Yes, he could work with that.

"Don't get involved with me, Sai-kun. You might fall in love." Ino winked and despite how it was true, he couldn't decide whether she had really meant that or it was just an innocent joke. Her date with Genma several days prior had successfully made him second-guess everything she did and said.

"Yeah, so I heard." Sai said, opting on using a diplomatic answer, "I am eager to try." He was not really lying actually. His heart never beats faster just because of a presence of someone or a light touch, it was supposed to be irrational and he'd like to see if Ino was able to do that. Ino let out a hearty laugh and then she stopped and patted his shoulder.

"What I was trying to say was, sure you are handsome and cute but we are not close enough to have a date yet." She said. Sai looked evenly at her cerulean eyes.

"But you went out on a date with Shiranui-san." He said matter-of-factly. Ino frowned.

"Genma is a special case."

"How is he special? Do you like Shiranui-san, Ino-chan?"

"I can't say. He's ridiculously charming though." Ino hummed. Sai stopped his step, the moment he entered the conversation with Ino, everything had been felt like plastic. All of her sweet smiles and laughs was fake beyond any comprehension, Ino was not herself when she was talking to him; it was like she had put up a barrage, like she was hiding something.

"You seem really defensive, Ino-chan." He gave her one of his fake smile, "I wonder why?"

"I just don't understand what your intention was, surely you are not interested on dating with me, but then what is it?" Sai gave her a meaningful look before handing out his notebook. She received it and immediately read it without his further instruction. She would raised her eyebrows occasionally but she read it in silence most of the time, drinking all the information in. It didn't take her more than 15 minutes before she handed the book back to him.  
"Well, I'm flattered." She said and then sighed exasperatedly.

"What do you think about the book? Aren't you happy to be liked by so many people? Aren't you supposed to be this vain egoistical maniac?"

While it usually would garner him a hard punch on the face from her, all she did was laughed bitterly.

"It doesn't matter if they are only interested in me," She said, and she leaped onto the top of a fence and made her way through the roof, running away from him.

After the incident, he didn't ask around about her because he simply didn't – or at least was not supposed to- care. His interest was purely on her love life and how she could have many suitors, not her feelings. He had continued watching her after the incident though; and she would just look at him anytime she noticed him and went about her own activity. He watched her fighting with Shikamaru regarding her date with Genma; Shikamaru bluntly told her to stay away from 'the-man-who-can't-even-properly-keep-his-dick-in- his-pants' and she had shouted that it was her life and she'd do as she pleased. Shikamaru told her that it made everyone worry and she dared him to define the so-called 'everyone' , and before Shikamaru could answer she spoke in a softer tone that he was not even her boyfriend or family. At that, Shikamaru looked taken aback and hurt, but the argument ended right there. Shikamaru told her to do whatever she wants and left the flower shop and as soon as he's outside the building, he lit up a cigarette that has been a long time since the last time it was touched. Meanwhile, Ino cried after that. Sai watched her sob for a while before Ino finally called out for him.

"You were watching, right? Show yourself." She had called out to him and he hesitated. There are some parts of him that told him that he should go down and answered her call. Didn't the first reason he's watching her is because he wanted to experience love? He should rush there now, saving his damsel in distress. Another part of him told him to ignore her because his instincts told him she reeked of trouble and he didn't want any part of it. He's not Naruto who could easily meddle with everybody's business and save the day. He was no hero his blonde friend was.

With that in mind, he left.

XXX

Sakura, who thought that Sai was really interested with Ino, kept forcing the two teams into having lunch or dinner together frequently, Sai never talked to her, despite Sakura kept kicking him on the shin to start a conversation. And at last, during one dinner, Sakura had brought him faraway from others.

"What's with you, Sai? If you're really interested in her, you have to collect your bravery and actually started talking to her!" She told him. Sai didn't know how to respond to her and chose to give her his fake smile instead.

"I am afraid that I am no longer interested in her anymore, Sakura-chan."

Her expression was shocked for a second before she looked away and muttered, "I see."

He only nodded and went back to his seat and proceeded listening to one of Naruto's daily life story; today about him training with Gai and Lee. He caught Ino throwing glances at him and he gave her one of his fake smile. Sakura joined them not so long after, her expression rigid; and it made Ino once again throwing glances at him. He ignored it this time. The dinner finally ended and it's time for them to head home. It was always the usual; Shikamaru and Chouji would take Ino home while Naruto and Sasuke would go with Sakura. Sai is welcomed to join one of the two party, but most of the time he'd just go straight home. He planned to do so too this night, at least until Ino suddenly took the liberty on clinging to his hand and changed the whole going home plan.

"I'd go home with Sai-kun tonight." She announced;much to everyone's surprise. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in dismay and Chouji looked bewildered.

"Be careful, Sai." Naruto teased him, "She might suddenly pounce on you and left you no longer innocent." Ino laughed.

"I'll save my pouncing when I walk home with you, Naruto. Okay, we'll see you later guys." She didn't even wait for Naruto's response and practically dragged Sai out of the restaurant. Several moments later, she let go of her iron grip.

"What are you talking about with Sakura?" She asked directly.

"You."

"Me? What about me?" There was a hint of defensiveness in her tone.

"I told her that I was interested in you."

"Oh, hence the sudden frequent eat-out." Ino nodded in understanding. Silence followed and Ino didn't say anything for more. Maybe she had a lot of questions in her head, or maybe she didn't care at all. She hadn't brought up about him leaving her on the flower shops a few weeks ago as well.

"So, how are you with Shiranui-san?" He didn't know why out of all the ice breaker there is, that question had to be the one that was coming out of his mouth.

"Fine. We have several mote dates after the first one." She said casually.

"Does Shikamaru take that well?" A long, agonizing silence followed.

"No, not really." She said in a softer tone. "We had countless worse fights after the one you watched."

"You two sounds like a couple." It was a genuine comment coming from him for the first time during the night and Ino didn't say anything. There was no immediate denial.

"He's concerned, that's all." Ino said, "But youth doesn't last forever, and I'm determined to make the best of it. So, well … things happened."

Sai didn't know what the correct response was and decided to stay silent.

"So, why are you so curious about love?" Ino opened up a new topic, finally made a comment regarding his notebook.

"I never feel things they described on novels or books. I am fond of Naruto and Sakura and regard them highly, but my heart doesn't beat faster nor did I lose the ability to speak normally."

"And you thought I could help with that." Sai nodded at Ino's conclusion.

"They said that at its peak, love bring one ultimate happiness." Sai said, quoting one of the book he had read earlier.

"Aren't you happy?"

"I feel nothing."

"You should just be more grateful then," Ino laughed, "To have such wonderful friends, wonderful skills and all." She said, "When it comes to happiness, you have to look around first before looking up." Ino stated. She looked at his eyes then.

"Love had this tendency to strike at the most unexpected times; it could be tomorrow, or a decade from now. You can't just stay unhappy waiting for it to come."

They reached Ino's house by the time she finished saying that and they stopped at her doorstep and Ino smiled at him.

"Will it really strike me?" He asked. He knew he had sounded like he was a pathetic teenager at that point, but he had stalked her for several weeks and one more curious question would be harmless.

"Yeah, you will. I promised you that. Everyone deserved their ultimate happiness after all."

"What about you, Ino? Have love struck you?" Sai asked her back.

"Maybe." She said after a long pause. "Or not, I guess I'll just wait patiently, then."

She then leaned in and unexpectedly gave him a kiss on the lips.

"Good luck, Sai-kun." She whispered and went inside her house. Sai touched his lips.

It had felt bland.

XXX

Sai had stopped watching her after the kiss; he figured that it was the end of his research if he was not going to love her. He'd occasionally go for an eat-out with her team, and there is that one time when she dragged him to go for a shopping spree with her, reasoning that no one else was available. After that, it was just a few nods and smiles and several months later, when he was training with Naruto and Kakashi, Neji popped out of nowhere and approached him.

"You were sent for the Hokage tower," He said.

"Only me?" He asked. Neji gave him a brief nod.

"Only you." And then he made a handseal and turned into a puff of smoke. A bunshin. Naruto and Kakashi approached him and Naruto made a comment about his call. Something that Sai had learned about Naruto, it was that he always had to comment about everything. Naruto was complaining as to why that Sai had to be the one that was sent on a cool, lone mission. He was about to respond when Kakashi calmly reminded him that making the Hokage waits never ends well with anyone. He nodded and rushed to the tower quickly. He was about to enter the Hokage office when he heard a familiar but rare voice. Gaara's.

"I am a Kazekage, Hokage." He said, his tone was heavy and demanded respect. Sai immediately yet gently hid his chakra presence.

"I figure it out as much, Gaara-kun. But Ino was taken first by the Kumogakure and I wasn't going to give you a special treatment just because you are THE Kazekage." Tsunade's voice had been strict and Sai frowned at the mention of Ino's name.

"You are exiling her like that."

"I'm not exiling her," There was hurt in her voice when he told her that, "She was the most capable kunoichi suited for this mis … condition. She had been trained for years under the best possible people for this. Kumo will love her inside out."

"So does Suna," Gaara retorted immediately.

"Stop this, please, Gaara. Sakura had tortured me all the time by bringing up this topic every five minutes. It was Ino's decision to agree to a marriage with Darui of the Kumogakure." Sai raised his eyebrows; the piece of news was shocking him, and he wasn't an easily shocked person to begin with.

"She was 13. She was very young and immature."

"Now she's 17 and still don't have anything to say about it."

"And what if she had something to say about it?"

"We don't force kunoichi out of their will for this kind of case. The mission will be cancelled, even though I don't think that by the time she's cancelling her mission she'd want to be married to a Kazekage either."

"I have time until she's 18."

"Konoha and Kumo's village couldn't be any stronger after the marriage. With that, the five alliances could make strong line of defense and offense against anything. We are lucky enough we could secure Sasuke safely back to the village. So please, don't sabotage this."

Sai left after that. He's going to wait for a half hour before he showed up again. He jumped to the nearest café just a few meters from Hokage's tower and ordered a cup of tea. He reached for his notebook and flipped the pages quickly before finally arrived at his abandoned research.

"Sai! What are you doing here?" The familiar voice startled him.

"Sakura. I was waiting for the Hokage. What are you doing?" He said awkwardly. He slowly closed the notebook and put it on his pocket.

"Can I sit here?" She didn't wait for his answer to take a seat across of him, "It was lunch time before I should be heading back to the hospital. The western food is great here," She said.

"Can I ask you about something?" He asked as Sakura looked at the menu.

"Shoot away."

"It's about Ino."

"Oh, you're interested again in her?" Sakura lit up. Sai figured that Sakura was very concerned about her best friend. He had come to the conclusion that Ino is the only person that could stop the marriage and Sakura thought that if he were to be in a relationship with Ino, she'd cancel the marriage and stay. Sakura didn't want her to leave.

"While you were training under Tsunade-sama, who trained Ino?" Sai asked. Sakura shifted her seating position uncomfortably against the question.

"She trained under many people. Why the question?" She asked; defensive.

"Who?" Sai pressed in.

"She was trained by Asuma-sensei, and then later she was trained under his father, Morino Ibiki, Shizune and Kurenai-sensei." Sakura told him, "Why?" She asked him, a look of concern filled her face.

"No, it's nothing." Sai stood up and paid his bill.

"I should go now, Tsunade-sama is waiting for me," He went and walked away from the café; ignoring his pink haired friend's call for him.

XXX

Sai was sent for a two months mission tomorrow. He was sitting alone in a restaurant, getting himself a dinner while waiting for his companion. Everything made sense now. He figured that Ino trained under Inoichi to improve her kekkei genkai, under Shizune for medical jutsu, under Ibiki for human psychology that she seemed to like and played around with and under Kurenai for the womanly prowess. All to prepare for the marriage, that is going to take place in less than 7 months.

"_What about you, Ino? Have love struck you?" Sai asked her back._

"_Maybe." She said after a long pause. "Or not, I guess I'll just wait patiently, then."_

The conversation was still fresh in his mind and Sai could tell that she was going to wait for love to embrace her before cancelling the mission. Love hadn't embraced her until now, and that's why she said that it doesn't matter if everyone liked her. She was waiting for one of them to make her fell head over heels for them and yet none of them had been brave enough to make the bold move. He didn't understand the reason, but he's not going to just sit around about it despite the nature of the mission. Ino deserved her ultimate happiness.

_But mostly, it's because it would be interesting to watch_, he thought with a smirk curving on his mind. So when he shrugged his head, he saw people coming his way and he smiled. He had invited people that he thought had the ability to make Ino fell in love with.

The dinner went on and Sai decided that he'd just throw the information as a gossip. He waited patiently until Naruto finished his argument with Kiba.

"Guys," He said in a louder voice. "It's a classified mission, but do you know …" He told them the mission.

_Let the battle begins._

**So, this chapter is finally finished. Thoughts? Please review it would make me very happy **

**By the way, I decided that the world is a little bit different from the manga, it's after the Fourth World War WITHOUT Neji, Inoichi, or Shikaku dead.**

**Life's better like that.**

**Anyway, don't forget to review ,thanks **** !**


	4. Nara Shikamaru

**Hi! Here we go! Another chapter for The Prettiest Girl! 3 things I should tell you before you read this fic : I do not own Naruto , I'm so sorry for any grammatical mistake, AND thank you so much for the reviews; **** each of it made my day just better and better!**

**At last, Enjoy!**

A faint click was heard at the window as he hopped into the room. Ino was lounging on her sofa reading a book. She looked surprised when he jumped in, but not angry. She was always happy to have him as a visitor.

"Wow, I was just thinking of going over to your room. I can't sleep," She mused as he took a seat on her bed.

"Get off the bed, you're dirty. I just changed the sheet." Her tone went strict at the view. Nara Shikamaru made a low growl before falling himself to the floor. A soft thump heard and Ino resumed her reading; satisfied that her bed was safe from any dirt his friend might pick up outside.

"So, what bring you here?" She hummed and lowered her book to get a better look at him. Shikamaru looked at her eyes and it was full of anticipation. He wanted to be angry with her; why didn't she tell him about the mission? Didn't she trust him enough? They had known each other even before they could remember and yet, and yet …

"You looked hurt." She commented suddenly. Yes. He was hurt. Very.

"You, and your guessing game." He snorted instead. Ino pouted.

"I'm sorry for trying to care about you." She said, offended at his comment. Shikamaru sighed; he didn't know why he was here himself. He needed to see her as soon as Sai told him about her mission, he wanted to question her why but he (and along with everyone in that table) had sworn in the name of Konoha that he's not going to tell anyone about what he had just heard. Not even Ino.

"_I bet she's waiting for someone to make her fell head over heels before she's 18." Sai had said, eager and enthusiastic._

Sai was not interested on Ino, definitely. He was egging them on to date Ino, and Shikamaru was not sure that it was the best for her. He had cursed fate before as to why things like this would even happen. All he wanted was a normal life with a normal mission and a frequent eat out and then someday, he'd figure things out and gathered enough guts to confess to her. She being out of his hands forever in seven months was not in his life plan, and he didn't like it. It's too troublesome.

"You're brooding." She was next to him when she broke his train of thoughts.

"What is it, Shika? You're worrying me."

"How's Genma?" He asked suddenly. Ino let out an exasperated sigh.

"You're here to pick a fight, I see. And I thought we are going to have a good long nostalgia about the past until I fell asleep and you tuck me into the bed."

"Find a better person to date and I won't nag." He said. "God, I hate nagging, it's yours."

"Stop saying like I'm in a relationship with him. It's just a casual date over coffee."

Shikamaru didn't have any response to that. He couldn't possibly tell her that he had secretly watching them during their dates. Yes, he watched all the giggling, the brushing hands, the holding hands, AND the goodbye kiss. It was not, in any way, casual.

"Are you jealous, Shika?" She teased him, and he grunted in dismay.

"I'm worried. If something bad happened to you, I'd get dragged. It's too troublesome."

Yes, he's jealous. Shiranui Genma was not exactly the man he'd be happy to see alongside with Ino. No other man was, either. Everybody suddenly got too much flaws when it came to Ino.

"But you _love _to get dragged!" Shikamaru made another grunt in disapproval. Ino gave him a smile before asking him another question.

"How's Temari?" She asked back playfully.

"She's fine."

"Make a move, brother. She's not going to wait around for a lazy ass like you for that long. There are lots of handsome and hot Suna guys out there who are more than willing to be the in-laws of the Kazekage."

"Be it then."

"Confident, eh?" Ino giggled. "You're starting to pick up on me."

"It's just _one_ casual mission, Ino. It's not like we're dating every week like a certain someone I know." He rolled his eyes sarcastically to her. Ino shrugged her shoulder.

"And you're in the same division with her during the war."

"It's not like I have the freedom to choose!" He said, frustrated. He and Temari was indeed a close friend, she _saved _his life. But that is all there is to it. They worked well together and Temari didn't seem to have the time for swooning over boys – unlike Ino who commented every slightly good looking guy who went past their ways- amidst her business as the Kazekage's sister and consultant.

"It's okay, Shika, you have to embrace love. Youth doesn't last forever." Ino laid her head on his shoulder. Shikamaru winced at her words. Her youth ended in less than 7 months and then all those times when Ino was so eager on finding love made sense. She was just trying to enjoy love during youth as much as possible. Shikamaru hated to admit it, but he pitied her, and it made him wanted to protect her. "And now I'm started to get sleepy. You have that effect on me." She muffled her face to his shoulder.

"If Temari fell in love with you, I bet it's because of your smell. You smell better than anyone else in Konoha, except for Asuma-sensei. He smelled the best in the world." There was a slight pause at the mention of their late Sensei. "Wondering why Inuzuka Hana hadn't hit on you yet…" Shikamaru knew that Ino started to babble when she's getting sleepy and the drill was that he had to lift her to her bed, tucked her in and left. But, given the current situation, he wanted this situation, where Ino was this close to him, when she looked so fragile and so reachable, to last a little longer. Just a little longer.

"Don't sleep on me." There was no response.

"I'll have to tuck you in that way. You're heavy and it's troublesome." He smirked when he said that but Ino didn't hear that. She's already asleep. He patted her head, feeling the silky blonde hair against his hands. She snuggled into him closer.

"Shikamaru, I'm sorry." She whispered. He raised his eyebrows and looked at her, who's still fast asleep.

"For what?" She didn't answer. Shikamaru sighed and he was weighing the idea of sitting still and got to sleep as well because it's good just like that. Doing the drill sounded uncomfortable and troublesome. Ino was going to suffer stiffness all over her body by the morning though. A stiff Ino is not someone who he really wants to deal with; and she's going to blame him. He sighed again; the fighting was not worth it. He was about to stand up when another faint click by the window was heard. Ino was not awoken, maybe because her mind thought that it was just Shikamaru leaving.

"Yo." Hatake Kakashi squatted on the windows. He narrowed his eyes over the sight of them in a position which seems like cuddling.

"I'm sorry for ruining your tender moment." He started. Kakashi was there during the dinner, amongst the men Sai told about the mission. At his voice, Ino woke up and was startled to see the shadow of Kakashi hovering above them.

"Kakashi-sensei! You scared me." Ino said and stood up.

"Does the Hokage call?" She asked in which Kakashi gave a slight nod.

"Yes, for both of you and Akimichi Chouji. Urgent mission she said. I wonder what kind of urgency that got you called on 1 AM in the morning."

"Maybe a lead about the last rebellion movements suddenly came and an important event happened right now," Ino deduced, "Those people only moved when it's already dark."

She then mumbling something like she's going to fix herself for a second and rushed to the bathroom. Shikamaru stood up and put his hands on his pocket. Kakashi must have wanted to make a comment about what he saw earlier and he expected the he'd be hearing that right about now.

"You make your first move quick, Shikamaru." There. His prediction was not wrong at all, ha.

"I'm just visiting her."

"Yeah, yeah. Totally believable. Save me the energy though. I'll get going now." He lifted his hand in a gesture of goodbye and turned into puff of smoke.

Ino came out from the bathroom, looking around for the sign of Kakashi. "He left already?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru answered. Ino let out a deliberately loud sigh.

"He's always so abrupt at comings and goings." She sighed as she looked outside," Let's go, Shika." She jumped out of the window followed closely by Shikamaru. They ran through the roof in silence, Shikamaru's thought couldn't help but wandering around the subject of his previous meeting with Sai and the others earlier that night at the restaurant.

First, there was no denying on how beautiful Ino is. Who could have argued? Shikamaru had witnessed her beauty ever since he could ever remember. He was fond of Ino, in a way that he was not sure himself. It was much more than words like best friend could ever explain, but it's less than terms like love either. Or maybe he was denying it. Ino had had too many men whom she loves and loved her in her life, and adding him to the game would just practically complicate everything. And life itself was already complicated. He had hated the situation very much, he was seriously considering to step back and being a good brother to Ino like Chouji always was, but the thought of everybody else standing next to her as her groom was just so wrong. Naruto and Kiba would easily overshadow her, and only God knows how Ino needs to be the center of the attention. Shino would indulge her too much. Neji and Sasuke would constrain her. Kakashi would … soil her, and so does Genma. In his opinion, he was the only person that could handle her and let her be herself in the process. He knew it, but now that the bet is on and everyone was going to try their best during the only 7 months they have left and just thinking of all the fighting – either it's with her or with his rivals-, he was getting tired just thinking about it.

Was it going to be worth it?

Was Ino the one for him? The question made him remember one of his conversations with her when he hung out with her on the flower shop. Spending most of his lifetime alongside with a florist made him knew a thing or two about the flower arrangement too. Ino would sometimes ignore the rules and just add flowers that weren't supposed to be there. Shikamaru ignored that almost all the time but the one time he asked, her answers had been jolly.

"You won't believe that that person was the one that inspired me in _this_ kind of department." She giggled. "Well, he said that sometimes, just because it's the right one, doesn't mean it's the answer," She had hummed happily, smiling widely at the memory of that person telling her exactly that. It had made Shikamaru curious.

"Who's 'he'?" Shikamaru had asked, noticing that big blue and small purple indeed looked great together.

"Ibiki-san." She giggled. "That man is practically teaching me flower arrangement! Can't you believe it?"

As the conversation was replayed again in his mind, another part of his mind thought that he's pretty sure he's the right one for her. But was he the answer? Was he her answer? Was she his answer? What if all this desire to win her heart was just because of his pity? His anxiety was temporarily halted at the feeling of another familiar chakra presence next to him. Chouji. He smirked. Chouji always had the natural ability to put everyone's mind into calmness AND Ino was the mind master among the three of them. She was only good at putting everyone's mind into chaos it seems. He smiled at his thought once again; she'd punch him to the next year if she had heard what he had just thought.

"What might be happening at this hour that needed the three of us?" Chouji asked as soon as he's within their ear reach, his breath a little bit rugged; signing that he hadn't had a proper warming up. Ino and Shikamaru hadn't had the time to answer when Chouji continued.

"Is it the rebellion movement?" He asked again.

"I think so too," Ino commented. "I swore I'll castrate them one by one for disturbing my sleep."

They finally managed to the Hokage tower and immediately reported to the office. Tsunade was waiting there, chin on her linked hands, and her complexion was serious.

"Thank you for your immediate response. We were supposed to have guests at the first thing in the morning but they arrived a little bit early. I want you to fetch them immediately at the Wind Forest. They should wait you on the fourth tree from the east. Bring them back to the village, and immediately report here once again."

Questions ran amok at everyone's mind.

"Yes, milady." They said in unison the same thing nevertheless; basic shinobi rules: never question the mission's purpose.

"You're dismissed." They jumped out into the air once again, and started to run toward the Wind Forest. Shikamaru was the first to complain, as usual.

"Man, all the energy just for a fetch? Tsunade-sama sure knows how to be troublesome."

Ino, who usually would just shake her head at her friend's extreme laziness, apparently agreed on his statement.

"Why us? Why doesn't she send some lesser genin instead? Wind Forest is not even that far and that dangerous." Ino joined the complaining bunch.

"Maybe the guest needs our ability in order to pass through here. Maybe there were some important mission they need to relay," Chouji eyed Ino, "Besides, there are bandits and rogue ninja everywhere, you know. Let's stay positive."

They went through the thickness of Konoha Forest and Hills and the situation was clear and quiet. There were bandits, but they were not even on the move. Shikamaru was speculating again while Chouji was trying to make Ino let him -and if possible the rest of them- to have supper after they went home, in which Ino responded by starting to give him a long lecture of the 5 basic principles of dieting. Shikamaru still couldn't find any exact answer during his speculation by that time. It could be the daimyo in a secret business with Konoha, it could be an informant. It could be _anyone._ Hence, when they stopped at the fourth tree from the east direction in the Wind Forest, Shikamaru had had no expectation. Seconds later, there were two people jumped down in front of them and his stomach felt like turned upside down. The first person was a fair-skinned blonde with a stoic complexion even when he's smiling. The second was a blonde as well, noticeably having more muscular body, looked friendlier and with darker skin.

It was none other than C and Darui who were standing in front of them.

"Konohagakure shinobi, fancy meeting you here,"

He then understood why it had to be them.

XXX

"Why would a Kage needs a bodyguard?" Chouji started his topic as they went through the thickness of the forest very early in the morning. "A Kage is the strongest in the village. A daimyo needed bodyguard, but a kage …? I don't get it." He added. C and Darui looked at each other.

"Hmmm, I guess to make sure that the Kage was not suffering from ridiculous death?" Darui's answer was not very sure.

"It's like protecting something that could easily crush us off to the bones." Chouji elaborated his points. The conversation mainly went on around Chouji, C and Darui and it surprisingly went well. Chouji had managed to save the torturous silence that had been going ever since they left the forest. Ino, the most talkative one of the bunch, hadn't talked at all ever since they exchanged greetings and Shikamaru was lost in his world of thinking. As soon as they reached the gate, they rushed to the Hokage office with the Kumogakure ninjas. The three of them were quickly dismissed and were told to be back at the Hokage office first thing in the morning and after a nod of goodbye to each to other, they left. The air of early morning in Konoha couldn't be any colder than that morning as they walked in silence.

"Ino, are you okay? You look pale." Chouji asked Ino, concerned.

"Yeah, it's just a little bit cold." Ino smiled at his caring companion. Chouji was always the sweetest and kindest guy in the world. Chouji instinctively held her hand and shivered.

"Gee, Ino. Your hands are freezing." He looked around. "And I don't have a jacket or something that could warm you. Shika, do you have some?" He nudged Shikamaru's hand.

"I don't bring any." Shikamaru answered, eyeing Ino.

"It's okay, Chouji," She said, giving Chouji a squeeze in the hand before pulling her hands away. "We've already arrived at my house anyway." She said.

"I'll accompany you." Chouji volunteered in which Ino immediately refused.

"No, no. Thank you, Chouji. I felt sleepy already. Bye, you two. See you tomorrow. Don't be late." She said in a hasty tone as she went inside her room from her window. Chouji looked at Shikamaruwith genuine anxiety and astonishment.

"Hormones." Shikamaru told Chouji. That had always been the best explanation for every unusual thing Ino did that neither Chouji nor Shikamaru understood. This time though, Shikamaru felt like he might just have understood Ino's behavior.

Shikamaru and Chouji chatted some more, mostly talking about Chouji dilemma whether to have supper or not because he was hungry at the moment but Ino had told him no. Shikamaru had been in the neutral side and told him just do whatever suited him best.

Shikamaru and Chouji eventually parted ways and he proceeded to his room; Shikamaru had to sneak so discreetly as to not waking up his mom which definitely will start throwing tantrums at finding his son coming home at 3 and he thought that it was going to be too troublesome to explain about the mission. The night went by and morning came. He woke up early and he managed to go downstairs to find her mother was still busy cooking breakfast and her father was barely awake, he was switching the channel of the TV randomly. He was obviously not watching them; he just did that in order not to fall asleep again and angered Yoshino.

"Shikamaru?" Her mother noticed his awakening and smiled happily. He waking up early was an event worth celebrating, indeed.

"A messenger came early in the morning." She told him. "He said that your report to the Hokage was to be postponed until afternoon."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and scratched his head. Oh, how he wanted to go upstairs and resumed his sleep. He still felt groggy and all, but his mother would definitely scolded him to the end of the world for that. He ended up having breakfast with his parents; he told them his mission during the night, his father told him what he thought about Kumo and his mother had disagreed with his father; they always had to disagree at everything. It was a conversation with light topics until that topic was brought.

"So, how's Ino? I haven't met her for such a long time now." Shikaku asked Shikamaru who narrowed his eyes in dismay. His mother and Chouji's mother loved Ino like she was the daughter they never had. It's mostly because she spent a lot of time in her childhood at either Chouji's or Shikamaru's house when her mother was busy tending the flower shop and her father was on a mission. While the thought of marrying Chouji to her was temporarily turned to ash because Chouji is currently seriously dating the ramen shop owner's daughter, Ayame, Yoshino hadn't lost hope yet. His father asking him the question would just incite her mother much more in that area.

"I met her the other day when I was shopping for groceries," Her mother told him, "She bought too much of those diet cookies."

"She always thought she needed to lose 5 or 6 more pounds to be just the perfect weight." Shikamaru told her mother who poured him a cup of tea.

"Yes, when I told her to stop buying those cookies though, she actually threw all those cookies away from her trolley." Yoshino sighed happily at the memory, "You should learn more from her, Shikamaru. She listened to me and respected me all the time."

Shikamaru's eyes widened in protest. He was the less obedient of the two? He WAS the one who taught Ino about how to act around his mother! Besides, knowing Ino, she'd just probably buy all those cookies later when Yoshino was not around. Shikaku saw his son's changed expression and kicked his shin, he gave him a signal that he better not say anything about Yoshino's previous statement or else he'll incite his mother's anger.

"I'm sorry, mother." Shikamaru said, defeated. Yoshino was satisfied at his son's obedience and collected their plates and disappeared to the kitchen.

"So, when will you ask her out?" Shikaku asked as soon as he was sure that his wife couldn't listen to their conversation. Shikamaru frowned.

"Dad, our relationship is not like that." Shikamaru sighed, drinking his cup of tea.

"You want your relationship to be like that." His father pointed correctly.

"And when are you suddenly becoming so interested with my relationship?" Shikamaru asked, annoyed at his suddenly nosy father.

"I saw Shiranui going out with her the other day and Inoichi hadn't made a comment about it." He told his son. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the mention of Genma's name.

"He said that her daughter was free to date anyone she wants." He continued. "It wasn't normal, you know. Inoichi would normally go berserk and protective at the sight of her daughter with anyone else." Shikaku said, musing at the memory of the previous events.

"So, maybe somehow Shiranui managed to get Inoichi's permission, which means you," Shikaku pointed at Shikamaru. "Who had had crush with her ever since _forever_,"

"I don't have …" Shikamaru protested.

"Are going to lose against Shiranui Genma." Shikamaru sighed in annoyance. Why couldn't he understand that a lifetime of friendship was at risk here?

"I know you're partners and all, Shikamaru." It's almost like his father read his mind. Shikamaru looked at his father with irritated eyes. He didn't want any love lesson from him out of all people.

"I got up and fell and got up and fell again to have your mother's hands." Shikaku said.

"Dad, I don't think that I'd need …"

"It's indeed a drag to win a woman's heart." Shikaku ignored his son's words. "But for once in your life, get up and put your best effort for the woman you love."

"I promise you it's worth it."

Shikamaru froze at his father's last sentence and he'd rather die a slow torturous death than to admit it; but at the moment, he was actually convinced as to what to do now.

"I'm going out to watch clouds." He muttered and he went out of the house.

That was the least way he could say, "Thank you, I understand, Dad."

XXX

Shikamaru was walking through the business of the Konoha Street to the Hokage tower when an enthusiastic voice called him. He stopped only to see his blonde friend and his team enthusiastically waving at him. Next to them was team 8, it seems like they had joint training today.

"Oi." Shikamaru greeted them in his usual lazy manner. They had just met last night, but it seems like he hadn't met them for days. So many things had happened after the dinner.

"Yo, Shikamaru! Where are you up to?" Naruto asked him enthusiastically.

"I have to report to Hokage tower in the afternoon," He checked his watch, "And right now is noon. Tsunade-sama hated it when we're late. Going to wait with a tea from the café near the tower until it's time." He felt tired already when he explained that.

"Oooh, is Ino going to report too? Tell my greetings to her," Kiba chimed in excitedly, he flashed Shikamaru his wolfish grin afterwards. Shikamaru mentally rolled his eyes but he nodded.

"I'll tell her." He said; sardonic.

"What's your mission, Shikamaru-kun?" This time, it was Kurenai who was asking him the question.

"Was it the rebellion?" Sakura asked, a look of concerned was on her pretty face.

"I'm praying it's not the rebellion. It's going to be a big mess and I'd hate to stitch you all up and worry over all of you." Her words were harsh; but Shikamaru knew her well enough that she was genuinely concerned.

"Don't worry Sakura, we were just …"

"Oh guys, are you having a party without me?" A loud familiar voice was heard and the moment they looked to see the owner of the voice, everybody tensed.

"Hi everybody!" Ino greeted them. It was not Ino that makes them tense, it was the muscular man who was slouching next to her. She was walking with Darui. There was C too, but Shikamaru honestly had to say that he didn't see him at the first second.

"Going on a mission with the Kumo shinobi." He managed to finish his sentence though. How could she be with them? His mind asked that question, and he was pretty sure everyone else did too.

"Oh, Hi Darui-san, C-san. We've met." Sakura said sheepishly to them. They exchanged some formal greetings.

"Where have you been, Ino?" Kiba asked; there was no longer the wide boyish grin in his face.

"T&I department." She smiled, "These guys need to see my dad."

"There are some remains of information from the war we need to know about," The way C said it was very convincing but Shikamaru was pretty sure everyone started to make assumptions in their own head the second Ino said that Darui needed to see Inoichi; save for Hinata who seems clueless about this.

"So, Darui-san. I heard you're doing splendid as the general during the war." Kakashi started the topic in a way that Shikamaru knew all the way too well that it was bait. Darui seemed to know this as well because he only scratched his head with deadpan look.

"Yeah, not the one who defeated Uchiha Obito or the one who defeated Uchiha Madara; but I'm doing okay." He said in a tone that elaborated his name more: dull. He left them no space for argument though; he implicitly told them that he knew that they were the bunch who was the hero of the war and unless they wanted to shamelessly brag their own achievement, they wouldn't be able to say anything about that. But of course, Naruto was anything but not shameless.

"Of course you're not, Sasuke and I was the one who killed Madara." He said proudly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He should have expected it from him.

"You two were the one who delivered the last blow." Sakura corrected him, obviously feeling embarrassed at her teammate's shamelessness.

"Yeah. I saw you two did that while I'm only standing still from the top of one of the hill. Sorry I can't do anything." He said.

"Please, Darui-san, you're too humble." Ino chuckled much to everyone's dismay.

"Shouldn't we get going? The Hokage is waiting for us." C said as he checked his watch impatiently. "I heard that she didn't have a good temper."

"It's too early; we're not expected until another hour." Shikamaru checked his watch too. Ino looked at him with a sorry look. She always looked at him like that when she hid something from him. Usually, at that kind of time – when she hid something he already knew from him-, he'd only feel proud because he felt like he had outsmarted her. This time, it was just plain pain.

"Oh, don't worry. You are indeed required to report an hour from now; but there's something else we need to report regarding the information from earlier." Ino said and patted his shoulder. There, another hint that she was hiding something.

"See you then." Shikamaru said. The three nodded and waved their goodbye. Shikamaru bet that if Sakura, Kurenai and Hinata were not there, the boys will be too busy talking about what they just saw.

"We should go training too, we've wasted enough time." Kakashi told his team. His word was like snapping them out of a trance as they watched the three figures dispersed with the crowd.

"Race you to the training ground!" Kiba slapped Naruto's shoulder suddenly and hopped onto his dog as he disappeared within seconds with Shino running next to the fang boy with his bugs under him.

"Hey! That wasn't fair!" Naruto jumped up the roof and disappeared as well.

"Gee, when will you guys grow up?" Sakura sighed as she followed them along with Kurenai.

"P … Please don't leave me." Hinata said as she jumped away too.

Shikamaru already turned around and was about to continue his walk when something stopped him. It was Sasuke's comment.

"You weren't thinking of hitting on Ino, right, Shikamaru?" He had asked in a tone that sounded like he was underestimating the shadow user. Shikamaru took a deep breath and turn around.

"Why are you interested?" He said with an irritated face, he couldn't say that talking to Sasuke was his hobby; something about him still pissed him off even until now.

"Oh, I'm just wondering how Chouji would feel about all that." He smirked. Shikamaru bet all his fingers AND toes that Sasuke didn't really care about how Chouji would feel. Making sure he was the one that delivered the last punch, Sasuke left following his friends.

Kakashi watched the younger boy while reading his porn novel.

"Sasuke was just being Sasuke like that, don't let it affect you." Kakashi said as he pocketed his book. Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know." He said.

"He was not wrong either, though. You might want to consider your chubby companion's feeling if you and Ino were together." Kakashi said, and before Shikamaru could respond, he had left in a puff of smoke.

"Ass," He cursed.

XXX

When Shikamaru reported to the Hokage tower an hour later, he was put on a mission to Kumo along with Chouji and Ino. They were to leave that very evening and preparation for mission was to be immediately done. His head was in the clouds most of the briefing from Hokage and when he checked back into reality, he was opening the door of his house while his mother was busy sweeping the floor. He exchanged greetings with her and went straight to his room.

Shikamaru prepared himself for the mission. Their mission had been vague and he had suspected that it was only an excuse to let Ino meet the Raikage. He went downstairs and briefly told his mother about the mission and after a long lecture about mission safety from his mom, he went out of the house.

He was early so he wanted to go to Chouji's house but when he was two roofs away from his room, he saw that his teammate was still busy preparing the mission. Didn't want to impose, he rerouted to Ino's house instead. Her room had been silent and tidier than usual as he jumped in.

"Ino?" He called out for her. No answer. Had she left for the gate? Ino was a punctual person, but she was never early. With that, he decided that he'd linger a little bit longer and took a book by her night table and read it on her sofa. The book was a romance novel and he put it back the second he opened the four pages and when he did, the door was opened and Ino went in.

"Ah, you're visiting."

"Early and Chouji's busy preparing." He said. Ino nodded.

"I'm almost done preparing." She said as she took her romance novel and stuffed it to her bag.

"It was pretty graphic." He commented. Ino's response was only a soft chuckle. Looking at Ino, Shikamaru suddenly reminded once again of Sasuke's words this afternoon to him. He had spent most of the briefing thinking about it, and yet, he decided that there's no way he could tell Chouji's feeling unless he asked him. But then, he was not sure that Chouji would be that selfish to stand in his way to get Ino just because he'd feel left out.

"Ino."

"What?"

"If Sasuke and Sakura were going out with each other, do you think that Naruto would feel left out?" He asked. Ino stopped her movement and looked at Shikamaru in disbelief.

"Sasuke and Sakura are going out?" She asked; her eyes widened in surprise.

"No, no." Shikamaru said quickly, he didn't want Ino to start throwing tantrums. "It's a what-if situation."

"Oh." Ino said, sounded a little bit relieved. "Seeing Naruto's personality, I don't think that he'd feel like that."

Shikamaru scratched his head. Of course, Naruto would probably just shamelessly try to squeeze in between the two anyway, and Chouji wouldn't do that to Shikamaru. He'd endure and smiled his sweet smile as always. He had to try another analogy.  
"What if Hinata and Kiba were together? What will Shino think?" Shikamaru asked.

"Shino'd be okay with his bugs." Ino chuckled.

"I'm serious, Ino."

"He'd be okay. Naruto'd be okay. If Tenten and Lee were going out together, Neji would be okay. And if we were going out together, Chouji'd be okay too." Ino said as she looked Shikamaru at his eyes and he shivered, feeling caught. "They are all a team, Shika. Team doesn't leave each other out." Ino said.

"Or will you?" Ino batted her eyelashes.

"I'm not going out with you." He smirked. Ino laughed.

"Yeah, you're going out with Temari, I know, I know."

"I'm not going out with Temari either." Shikamaru protested. Ino smiled at him.

"Soon, you will." She insisted with a smile. "Let's go, Chouji's here." Ino waved her hand at her friends who was approaching his window.

"I'm not going out with Temari." Shikamaru repeated as he followed her.

"Okaaay?" Ino grinned as they both jumped out of the window.

The mission to Kumo was going well. Ino was already reverting back to her cheerful self and instead to Darui, she seemed closer to C. They chatted about the newest advance in medical technology, and things revolving their side occupation as a medical ninja as they ran through the forest, leaving the other no space to join the conversation –except that one time when they talked about a good balanced diet for ninja, in which Ino eyed Chouji with full of implication- and as the duo started to run out of the topic, that was when C decided to comment on their previous encounter.

"I used to dislike Konoha," He said.

"Sasuke?" Chouji guessed in which C nodded and sighed.

"And Orochimaru, and Madara, and everyone else." He added. "People like that won't survive in our village."

"I'm sorry if our village has mercy." Ino said.

"Mercy is number one don'ts in basic shinobi rule." C snorted.

Just suddenly, all the friendliness Ino and C shared during the first three hours of their trip faded away to nowhere. Chouji and Darui noticed this and quickly took action.

"Different village, different principle. All is good." Darui said.

"Yes, I agree, Darui-san. Our Kage had their own reason and own way of doing things." Chouji said in a rushed tone followed with a forced chuckle. Ino looked away from C in annoyance and started to jump to the back side of the gang, next to Shikamaru.

"Fighting over such small things, I thought you've grown up." Shikamaru couldn't help not to comment at Ino who now running next to him. Ino looked at him in annoyance.

"Thanks for backing me defending our village." She barked. Shikamaru decided to halt any more comments before Ino is going to get really mad at him. The forest becoming thicker and suddenly becoming quieter than usual.

"It's odd." Shikamaru spoke out in which Darui and C immediately nodded at his comment. They were a seasoned veteran; their instinct was sharp enough to pick on danger.

"We've been followed for some time now," C noted. Chouji looked at the others.

"Should we confront?" He asked; tense.

"Our objective was to arrive at Kumo at shortest time possible," C said. "Any confrontation was to be avoided."

As soon as he said that, a sound of metal clicking was heard softly as a senbon went directly to Ino in a speed of light. Shikamaru widened his eyes as he instinctively pushed Ino out of the way but his kunai failed to deflect the senbon and it went straight to his arm instead. The formation broke that instant.

"Well, we got eager guest." Darui said as he unsheated his sword. Shikamaru was about to pull the senbon out of his arm when his hand froze. Crap, of course there had been poison on that senbon. Several men jumped down surrounding them.

"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted as he felt himself falling down to the ground.

Crap. Crap. He bet he looked so pathetic. A ninja fell down from a stupid poison in a senbon. When he saw Darui was slashing the man down so easily, he cursed. _What a show off._

And then his vision went white.

XXX

When he opened the eyes, he was in an unfamiliar room that smelled like a hospital. It wasn't Konoha and the room was way too luxurious to be a hospital room in a small town. He deduced then that he was already in Kumo. Only then that he noticed a large amount of food in various kind were put on a cupboard across the bed; signaling Chouji's presence there. And then there was a slight movement on his arm and he looked down only to see a pool of familiar silky platinum blonde

hair on his bed. Shikamaru didn't have anything to do about it when Ino sat up immediately and looked at him. Her hair was messy and there was a dark circle underneath her eyes. She tied her hair absent-mindedly before looking at him.

"You're awake!" She gasped and pulled him into a bone-crunching hug. The smell of lavender and milk filled his nose.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said, feeling sore all over the body. "How long have I been out?"

"Four days. I'm so sorry we don't bring the antidote for the poison." She still didn't let go from her hug. Shikamaru awkwardly patted the back of her head.

"I'm _so_ worried." She said as she let go, her eyes were gleaming as she looked at him.

"I won't die over some stupid poison."

"You won't die. If you died before I died, I'll kill some random people and resurrect you with Edo Tensei." She clutched his blanket possessively.

"Ew, Ino. That's creepy." He couldn't help a smirk escaping from his mouth. Ino noticed that and punched him playfully at his arm.

"Don't look so smug." She said.

"So, how are the others?" He asked; even though judging by her reaction, everybody else was fine.

"They're fine, we're lucky to have C-san and Darui-san with us." Ino sighed contentedly. "It was the rebellion movement." She whispered to him. Shikamaru frowned.

"They're pretty active for a movement that is still in development."

"Yeah, so we have to be careful next time AND," She glared at him. "Don't ever do that to me again."

"Doing what?"

"Acting like a hero and taking the senbon for me.." She clutched his hand in a protective way. "I won't be able to live with you died protecting me." She said. "I'm not losing anybody else, Shika. Not after Asuma-sensei." Ino said, eyes still glued at his.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not planning to die soon," He said, pulling his blanket over his face, avoiding those big blue eyes.

"I love you too much." She said quietly.

There were butterflies in his stomach when Ino said that even though he knew that it wasn't the kind of love he wanted her to have for him.

"You and Chouji were right there just after my father and Asuma-sensei." She continued.

"More than Sasuke?" He teased her from beneath his blanket. She laughed.

"Don't push your luck." He could tell that she was grinning outside.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji's voice was heard as a loud stomping was heard moving into the room. Shikamaru closed his eyes.

Ino _loves _him. Not in _that _way YET, but it was enough.

He bet she didn't tell any of his rivals that she loves them.

**Finally! This is such a long chapter! Is it too long? Too boring? Too many unnecessary details? Thoughts please? Please review! Refresh me :) :) :)  
**


	5. Uchiha Sasuke

**Hi, everybody! Honestly, I can't believe that this chapter is done. By far, this is the hardest chapter I've ever written because it's very hard to stay true to Sasuke's character. And then, thank you very much for everyone who has read/reviewed/favorited/followed this story. You people are the only reason I kept writing :''') and at last, ENJOY! **

Sasuke knew the instant he decided to make Ino his woman his path was not going to be smooth. He figured out pretty quickly that he wasn't the only one who was prick by the gossip Sai threw into the table, it was pretty much _everyone else._ That instant, he knew everyone else was thinking of doing the same thing: saving Ino from the oh-so-horrible arranged marriage that Konoha had for some ridiculous reason prepared for her.

He would certainly be lying if he said that it was pure love that spurred him to seek her heart. It wasn't pity either, absolutely. There were a lot of people who had to suffer far more tragic and ironic fate than her – him included-, the back story Sai gave them that night didn't move him. Hardly _anything_ ever moved him, anyway. It was mostly because of his strong sense of rivalry toward everybody else in Konoha and as trivial as the little competition was about, he saw this as one of the way – mostly because his life since he was back to Konoha had been very restricted, he was banned from doing any mission until undecided time and he had to be back at his home before 10 PM- and besides, he _was_ indeed interested in Ino. It was a long time ago, when love had been constantly put aside, when the thought of liking a girl had to be pushed far in the darker corner of his mind; all for the sake of revenge. Sasuke had thought about her several times during his first few months with Orochimaru and then, he was so occupied with other – much more important- things, he didn't have the time to think about something as trivial as girls. He had gone through a lot before they finally met each other once again during the Fourth World War; she had approached him so eagerly he could see her eyes sparkling with hopes and that moment, he knew his wish had been granted.

God, she was still _way_ into him.

Like that, it was like the competition was set on the easiest difficulty setting for him. She loved him, and he wanted her, there should be no big deal, and in a short time, they will live happily ever after. Except, he had rivals, and that's where everything started to get complicated. His rivals absolutely have the upper hand in term of the time they spent together with Ino and he had to admit that he never knew Ino very well, despite his interest to her back then. He only knew that she was pretty, very confident, had an all-around excellent skill back then during the academy days, and she was working at a flower shop. Other than that, she was as foreign as a stranger. On the other hands, his rivals had spent their time working with Ino, _harboring interest on her_, and definitely they had known her better. Sasuke decided that if there's anything that should be done first in this competition, it was for him to take out his rivals. And take out his rivals he did.

XXX

"I will have a bowl of miso ramen with grilled chicken and extra seaweed, please." Sasuke's presence at Ichiraku was rare and pretty much everybody was intimidated by him. The ramen shop that was filled with soft chattering and laugh instantly silenced at his arrival. Sasuke sighed as people looked at him with those judgmental looks. When he claimed that he didn't care about what the villagers think, it didn't mean that he didn't hate it. It was a relief that a person he sat next to was a very reliable person who never doubts him for a second.

" Sasuke! How rare to see you here!" His voice was the same as always, loud and high pitched. Even though Uzumaki Naruto underwent puberty, his voice still sounded the same from three years ago.

"Yes, I figure I want me some ramen." Naruto flashed him a grin as he slurped the noodle.

"So, how are you and Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he received his own bowl of ramen. Naruto shrugged his head and looked at him with astonishment.

"Sakura's fine. You met her too yesterday during the training." He said, scratching his head. Sasuke closed his eyes. _Ever so slow Naruto._

"I mean you and Sakura. You told the fourth Hokage that she's your girlfriend, correct?" He asked. This time, Ayame chimed in.

"You and Sakura are finally together? That is great! Congratulations, Naruto!" She said happily. Teuchi joined the conversation soon enough.

"_I knew _this day will come, young man! You should bring her here too sometime." He said. "Here, I'll give you bonus octopus as a token of gift." He added a spoonful of octopus to Naruto's bowl. Naruto looked confused at the sudden kindness from both Teuchi and Ayame as he scratched his head.

"No, no, no. It's not like that. Sakura is not my girlfriend." He said, looking at the octopus with confusion, not knowing what to do with the gift that was wrongly based.

"Are you saying that you _lied _to your _dead _father, Naruto?" Ayame closed her mouths in horror. Sasuke thought that she was totally exaggerating, but things were going his way anyway so he didn't say a thing and continued eating his ramen as he watched scenes after scenes unfold.

"Yeah, kinda, I mean …" Naruto looked down at his bowl of ramen. "Things are different, now." He looked at Sasuke. "Sakura likes Sasuke." He said. Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the mention of his name. There was no way that he's going to let Naruto shove the blame to him just like that.

"I'm not interested in Sakura, Naruto." He managed to say that coolly. Naruto chewed his octopus.

"It doesn't change the fact that she likes you, Sasuke. I can't do a thing about that, you see." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. So he was right about Naruto giving up on Sakura. If Naruto were serious about going for Sakura, he wouldn't be a reason. _Nothing_ would be a reason.

"All these years and you just give up on her because of one man, Naruto?" Ayame looked at him than looked at Sasuke. Sasuke was almost glad that the brown haired woman kept helping him by making a comment. As much as Sasuke enjoyed a good rivalry with his blonde teammate, this time, the lesser his rivals, the better his chance were. He had begrudgingly admitted that he didn't know where his place was in the competition, so he had to depend on chances. Also, there were already some men he knew he couldn't touch or shove away. Kakashi was too unpredictable and trying to take him out with baseless harsh words would only make him look like a spiteful child. Sasuke was not too sure either that his previous attempt to shake Shikamaru's resolve succeeded. The shadow manipulator spent too much time with Ino. There was Shino and Genma too, both men he didn't know where their weak points are. When Sasuke checked back into reality, Naruto was still busy trying to convince Ayame that Sakura was out of his grasp forever when suddenly a stranger from another seat cheered Naruto on.

"I support you and Sakura-chan forever, Naruto!" He said as he threw his fist into the air. The others soon followed and suddenly they all chanted Naruto and Sakura's names. Sasuke finished his bowl of ramen while he rolled his eyes. _And they said that I'm the crazy one._

Naruto was absolutely at a loss of words.

"I … Thank you, everyone." He said, scratching his head again. Sasuke put on his chopstick and looked at his blonde friend.

"Don't mind me; go for her if you want." He stood up and left the ramen shop after leaving some money. The shop was still loud from the chanting. Sasuke smirked as he walked down the road.

_Okay, that's one man down._

XXX

"Sasuke!" A voice called him as he continued his walk the street and when he turned his head it was apparently Lee who called him. He walked only with one foot and strangely still managed to approach him with a quick speed.

"Lee. What a funny way to walk." He looked at him from head to toe.

"This is part of my training!" He said; a hint of pride was in his voice.

"It strengthens the calf muscle you know." He told him in an all-knowing tone. Sasuke nodded silently. There are thousand more kinds of training that could enhance the strength of calf muscle but it was Lee anyway, of course he had to do the most stupid looking ones.

"Anyway, I got a message from Kakashi-sensei. He said that tomorrow there will be a special training for team 7, so tonight is the briefing about tomorrow. 7 PM at Naruto's apartment."

"I got it, thanks." Sasuke nodded briefly and continued his walk. Unexpectedly, Lee followed.

"So, where are you up to?" He asked as he walked next to him, still with one foot.

"I am going to the training …" Lee's eyes were already gleaming and Sasuke knew he had said the first part of the forbidden words against Lee. If Lee knew Sasuke was going to the training ground, he would _insist_ to come and train together with him. No, that wouldn't be good. As much as he likes to train himself hard, ten thousand squats or three hundred laps around Konoha was simply too much. He was not planning on overexerting himself, not today anyway. "Equiment Store." Sasuke finished.

"I am going to the training equipment store." He repeated as to make his point clear.

"Ah! Let me walk with you there then, I need to buy weapons too, Tenten's birthday is coming closer." He said; still with a wide smile across his face.

"Be my guest." Sasuke said. Lee stopped a second to change to his other foot and caught up to Sasuke who kept walking.

"Wow that was some nice tights." Lee said as he looked at one of the store along the street. Sasuke looked at an overly bright pink spandex which was displayed at a store with a flashy sign above its door. There was indeed no question about Lee's gaudiness in fashion.

"Do you think that Sakura will love it, if I bought her that?" Lee pointed at one of the display and Sasuke realized that he was looking at the wrong tights. Lee had pointed at even more colorful tights. Every bright color seemed to mix there, yellow, bright purple, bright red, bright pink, bright green, and many more. Sasuke closed his eyes.

"I don't think that …" Lee never listened to him as he was already rushing to the store with Sasuke's wrist on his robust grip. They both entered the shop which apparently was filled with more gaudy clothing.

"Wow! This store is amazing!" Lee exclaimed happily, his eyes gleamed in happiness. He walked to a big white rack with lot of bright tights folded neatly on that. Lee pulled stripped spandex tights and showed it to Sasuke.

"Sakurawill _love_ this." He said with full of confidence. Sasuke gave him an odd look.

_She will vomit at it and burn it and throw its ash to the sea._

"She'll hate it." Sasuke said. Lee laughed.

"You're just jealous aren't you, Sasuke? It's because I see these tights first and you can't give them to Sakura, ha!" Lee pointed at him and as much as Sasuke wanted to rebut, he decided to stay silent to end the argument quickly. In the end, Lee purchased the tights. He even had it wrapped nicely and once again they hit the street. Lee was humming happily; satisfied with his recent purchase.

"Lee, how can you be so …" _Dense, _is what Sasuke wanted to say. "Confident?"

Lee looked at him. "Mm? Confidence is important for all ninja to have because …"

"No, no. About Sakura," He quickly cut his upcoming lecture. "She rejects you all the time and you are still so eager on giving her gifts and such."

"What? She _never_ rejects me!"

_There we go. Dense._

"A magazine told me that being direct is the best way to convey feelings." Lee told Sasuke when they entered the equipment shop. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Lee obviously had a funny way of conveying his feelings. "There once a man who said that a good offense is the best defense." Lee told him as he lifted a kunai and judged it with one eye closed. Sasuke looked at him as he couldn't believe that Lee was capable of wise words.

"I'm done shopping." Sasuke said as he took some random kunais and brought it to the cashier. Lee followed him with three blue scrolls on his hands. They went out of the shop.

"Well, I'm going home." Sasuke lied. Lee nodded.

"I'm going to the north training ground!" He said.

"See you later." Sasuke gave him a smile and turned back. He really went to his house in case Lee was following him. He then headed to the south training ground after putting his shopping bag at his front door. Sasuke walked as he enjoyed the scenery of the streets near his house. It was quiet and most people there had been acquainted with him, hence, they didn't look at him with judgmental looks anymore. He entered the training ground when someone caught his eyes. Ino was sitting still under a tree in a meditating stance. Sasuke wanted to walk closer but then figured that Ino would do that too, so he kept his cool and approached a training dummy instead. He trained his taijutsu skill there when finally a voice called him.

"Sasuke-kun." Her voice was soft and playful. He didn't look at her when he greeted her back.  
"Ino."

"Are you training alone?" Ino looked around. "Where's Naruto and Sakura?"

"They're busy."

"That's too bad." Ino said as she watched him intently while he punched the training dummy mercilessly.

"You might want to watch out though if you're here training alone." She giggled and moved back to her place under the tree and continued her meditation. Sasuke was about to question what she meant by that but the answer came quicker.

"Why, if it isn't Sasuke!" A familiar voice greeted him. In fact, the voice was familiar because he just heard it less than an hour ago. Sasuke closed his eyes in defeat.

"Lee. I thought you were going to the north training ground." He stopped his training and turned around. He was hoping that there would be some mercy for him by the presence of Neji and Tenten. There wasn't though, it was just Lee and Gai.

"Huh? Isn't it the north training ground?" Lee looked confused.

"It actually depends on where you face, Lee! South or north is just the same!" Gai said and then he laughed shamelessly. _No, it's very different!_ Sasuke could feel his impatience rising up.

"You look like you're practicing your taijutsu! Let's train with us then!" Lee said enthusiastically.

"No thanks." He said bluntly, hoping bluntness would drive them away. It did nothing to the duo though, as expected.

"Don't be shy, Sasuke! You won't bother us at all!" Gai said as he pulled Sasuke's hand. He was about to yank his hand but Gai's grip was extremely robust.

"I don't want …" He started but then as soon as Gai's grip went loose, Lee was already literally kicking his way to him. Sasuke dodged and instinctively made a counterattack.

"Now that's the spirit Sasuke!" Gai exclaimed enthusiastically. Sasuke sighed as he corrected his fighting stance.

"Come at me any way you want!" Lee said, looking so eager on taking him. Sasuke mentally groaned as an electric current flow through his sword, he knew that he had fallen right into Lee's trap. Dead center.

_This is the punishment for trying to take Naruto out of the game._

XXX

When he finished his training three hours later, Ino was still there, but this time she was watching him with a dreamy look. Lee and Gai looked at the clock and they looked like they were reminded of something important and after a hasty goodbye, they left immediately. Sasuke approached her and sat next to her.

"You are still here." He said as he leaned his back to the tree, catching his breath. Ino grinned.

"There's no woman in this world that could resist the sight of you training so hardly, glistening in sweat with sunset as the background." She hummed. Sasuke gave her an odd look.

"Creepy." He commented. Ino laughed.

"How's the training?" She asked. Sasuke snorted.

"You should have told me." He said begrudgingly.

"I had told you, Sasuke-kun," Ino smiled. "So, how is it? Did they beat you up good?"

"It was very intense. But they'll never be able to beat me up." He said as he lifted his chin up with pride. "I feel like I might have grown several times stronger already." He smirked. Ino giggled.

"Lee and Gai's training tends to make you feel like that, indeed." She commented as she searched her bag. Sasuke could never understand how a ninja (who was training) could still bring something as fashionable as a purple leathery tote bag. Ino was a special case, he guessed.

"You must be hungry after your hard training, Sasuke-kun. Do you want my bento?" She offered him a purple lunchbox. Sasuke looked at it hesitantly.

"No, thanks." He said coolly. "It's yours."

Ino opened the lid and the smell of the food soared in the air immediately, Sasuke looked down and he had to admit that it was a very delicious looking bento. He was about to refuse but his stomach betrayed him before he could say anything. It growled.

"Oh, have it, Sasuke-kun. I insist." Ino chuckled as she shoved the box to him. His face reddened when he received the purple box and started to eat the food. Ino sighed in happiness.

"Ah, Sakura's going to be sooo jealous when I tell her that you eat my bento." Sasuke decided to ignore her comment and kept eating.

"The bento is really good." He told Ino quietly. Ino looked at him and grinned widely.

"I'm so glad!" Ino exclaimed in happiness. "It's the first time someone told me that my cooking is good. I wasn't much of a cook before." She hummed happily as she watched Sasuke gulped down the sausage.

"You know, Ino." Sasuke said as he drank the water the girl had offered him after he finished the bento. "Thanks." He smiled at her and Ino blushed furiously. They looked at each other for quite a long time.

"Sunset and we're looking at each other with full of meaning." She sighed as she smiled at him. Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Isn't it about time you're kissing me?" She asked playfully. Sasuke looked away.

"I was just kidding, okay?" She said, feeling that she might have said the wrong things.

"Do you still like me, Ino?" He asked suddenly. Ino blushed at the question.

"I do." She let out a feminine giggle. Sasuke looked at her again and he must be thinking about Lee's words on their previous conversation about 'the best defense is a good offense' and 'being direct is the best way to convey your feelings' because he leaned into a kiss with her. Ino momentarily froze at his sudden movement, but then she slowly kissed back. Sasuke smirked at her response and then he felt a slight quiver of chakra. He cracked open an eye and saw Sakura from faraway, looking horribly shocked. Sasuke ignored her but then Ino saw her too and that was when she abruptly halted the kiss. She quickly stood up and gave chase to Sakura who was running away, knowing that she had been seen. Sasuke followed Ino.

"Ino, wait." Sasuke called her, and then sped up his step and blocked her way. Ino stopped and she looked at him.

"I have to explain everything to Sakura." She said.

"Explain what? That it wasn't like what she was seeing?"

"Yes." Ino panted. Sasuke folded his hand in annoyance.

"What is it, then?" He asked, his eyes judged her and he knew that Ino was intimidated. Be it that she trained under the best interrogator in the world, he knew very well Ino had always had that weak spot for him. Every girl who ever had a crush on him does.

"I shouldn't have …" Ino looked away. "It was … a mistake." She said softly. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"That was a mistake?" He repeated her words darkly. He felt like angry already. If there were anything that he was not; it was that he was a mistake. Ino knew that she had said the wrong things, and decided to change the subject.

"Sakura loves you." She said; her cerulean blue eyes looked at him evenly. Sasuke snorted.

"I don't see her that way." He told her. "Besides, it didn't seem to matter back then."Sasuke stated; referring to the girls' rivalry years ago. Ino sighed exasperatedly.

"Things are different now, Sasuke-kun." She said and even though she thought he didn't know, he knew that she was referring to her marriage arrangement with Darui. But that was practically the reason why he was hot on her trail at the very moment and he would never let that be a problem.

"You said you still like me." Now, his voice was accusing. It was mostly because he couldn't simply accept the fact that at the moment she was practically rejecting him. He was not going to be rejected. _Not_ after they kissed.

"Yes. Because I didn't think that you would like me too! Because I didn't think that you would _kiss me_ for it!" Ino said, frustrated.

"You kissed back." He said; throwing another accusation.

"I did." Ino looked away. "And that's why it's wrong." She said. Sasuke lifted her chin up gently which startled Ino and made her blush at the same time.

"Ino, do you still want me?"

"What I want doesn't matter." She said softly as she directed her gaze away from him. It was an answer enough for him, but Sasuke knew that it wouldn't convince her. So he tried to retort with a more selfish answer.

"Be it then. What I want does matter though. I want _you_."

"I can't. Sakura's my best friend." This time, she tried another angle. Her blue eyes were confused. _Damn, she was desperate to shove me away._ Sasuke would have hated Sakura at that time if he didn't know that it was Ino's marriage arrangement that was the real reason.

"You want me to be with Sakura?"

"Please." Ino said softly.

"I can't. Naruto's my best friend." It was obvious that he was mocking her, but at the same time, he reminded her at how ironic the love triangle between them was. Ino was about to say something but then she noticed the time and gasped.

"It's almost 7 PM, I have an appointment." She said and then she looked at him. "Don't you have an appointment too?" She asked and then she looked away.

"Indeed." Sasuke looked at the giant clock and remembered about the briefing at Naruto's apartment.

"But our talk is not over." He eyed her. Ino didn't say anything and turned around. Sasuke watched her back before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a hug. Ino gasped at his sudden movement as he enveloped her in his arms.

"I swear that I will make you love me so much once again that Sakura won't matter," He whispered to her. _That Darui won't matter._ "That anything won't matter."

He could feel her hand on his chest and as he felt a sudden warmness on his chest, he could tell what happened.

She was crying.

XXX

The briefing had turned out to be a surprise welcome party that Naruto had painstakingly prepared for him. Everybody was there, cheering for him, shaking his hand, congratulate him; _welcoming _him home. He couldn't keep his focus, though. He found himself kept looking for a certain platinum blonde and when he found her, she was amidst of some talking to her pink haired best friend. It was just like a casual conversation outside, but he knew that it must be about what Sakura had seen previously. Sasuke's mind was already taking wild guesses as to how Ino would explain things to Sakura. He was about to think up the scenario when Naruto put his arm on his shoulder with a wide grin on his face.

"How do you like the party, eh, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"It's great, thanks," Sasuke gave him a small smile.

"You said that you're not interested in Sakura but you kept ogling on her instead of enjoying the party." Naruto commented as he drank a suspicious blue liquid from his glass.

"I was ogling at Ino." Sasuke put it bluntly. Naruto was a little bit startled at Sasuke's blunt reaction.

"You are trying to get Ino?" He whispered. Sasuke nodded.

"Yes."

"Man! That's awesome! Is it because Sai's story?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

"It spurred me. But I already liked her even when we were still in the academy." He told his friend. He was not completely lying, anyway. He liked her before. Then it was a timeskip, and then he decided to like her now. What Sasuke never expected was that Naruto's eyes would gleam so shiny. He couldn't be wrong when he deduced that Naruto was after Ino so why did his friend look so happy for it?

"Wow. You know what's awesome, Sasuke? I _am _the same with you!"

"Huh?"

"I've liked Ino since we were in the academy, too!" He said enthusiastically. Sasuke frowned.

"Well, last time I heard, Sakura hadn't changed her name to anything near Ino." He folded his hand. Naruto froze the moment Sakura's name was mentioned but then he let out a hearty laugh.

"The story's too long, Sasuke!" He told him. "So I guess we will be rivals from now on!" He patted his shoulder with a happy mood.

"What about whoever wins became the Hokage?"

"Don't be silly Naruto." Sasuke answered in which Naruto grinned.

"But seriously, Sasuke, I'm very serious about her."

"So do I." He said coolly.

"We are even right now. I am not the dead-last student looking at the top student anymore. We are two equal ninjas who are going to fight over one woman's heart."

"Those elaborations seriously sound crappy."

"Whatever." Naruto said. "I'll win her heart for sure, Sasuke. Even if she liked you before."

Sasuke was never the one to back down from a challenge, so he smirked and bravely retorted "Let's see."

_You might want to watch your back though, Naruto. For I am not the only rival you have._

**DONE! You can tell as soon as you've read this story that I haven't found a beta yet. How do I even find a Beta? I've tried to search and then I found a lot of names and then … what? How do I know that they are a good beta? Or is every Beta a good Beta?**

**By the way, I know that there isn't much SasuIno moment here, but it's because Sasuke normally didn't socialize with Ino in the series and to have them suddenly frequently hanging out together is just weird. It's just the beginning though ;)**

**I'll give you a SPOILER FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER; it will be titled 'Yamanaka Ino'!**

**Okay, before I talk too much, review please **** it will be greatly appreciated. **


	6. Yamanaka Ino

**Hi! My laptop is broken so I'm so sorry for the long update. I'm using my father's laptop right now ****! This chapter is told from Ino's POV and I couldn't help making her a teeny, teeny little bit Marysue-ish, but that is the whole point of the story, right!**

**Naruto is not mine, sorry for the grammatical error, and ... **

**Enjoy!**

It had been a long time since Ino had begrudgingly surrendered to the fact that it was not herself who knew 'Yamanaka Ino' the best in the whole world. In fact, there are a lot of people in that list. Inoichi and Chouji knew her better. Her mom knew her _much_ _much _better. But they were all biased person with their own thoughts and expectation toward her. And that was why she went to the person who knew her best. The unbiased man who can be as neutral as anyone could ever be. It was an airy Saturday morning in Konoha and everybody was still lounging in the comfort of their own home, except for one, pacing blonde who made her way to the corner of the village where the Torture and Investigation Department were built. Maybe it was just Ino, but as soon as she made the turn that led straight to the department, everything went colder. This was her workplace, and yet she never liked the place. Sometimes she just wished that she could be a personal shopper or anything else that didn't involve people dying, screaming, and begging for mercy or sounds of blood spurting everywhere echoing through the room occasionally. It's almost odd that she found herself managing to cling to sanity and not becoming a sadist like some people in the department were. There were a very few people who are already a sadist to begin with though, she believed. The head of the T&I office was of course not an exception to that very few people. Ino took a deep breath as she stopped in front of his office and brought herself to knock the door. A heavy 'enter' soon followed and she let herself into the cold bright room that seems as sterile as those rooms in hospital. Morino Ibiki was sitting behind the white metallic table reading a book with his foot on the table.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite student visiting me on her day off." He greeted her without looking away from the book. Ino sighed as she tried to compose herself in front of Ibiki. The room was much colder than the outside, and Ibiki always had that effect on her; that certain chilling effect.

"Sensei." She greeted him rigidly as she approached his table. Ibiki glanced at her and smirked.

"Take a seat, Ino. Is it about the marriage arrangement?" He asked her and Ino had to curse beneath her breath as she took a seat. _Damn_ he for knowing everything there is to know about her.

"Yes. I was thinking about getting signed for Kumo for the rest of the months I have ... left." She sounded hesitant at her last word and when she dared herself to look at Ibiki, he was preoccupied with the book. Ino sighed, if she hadn't known him better, she'd have thought that he had ignored her.

"So that's it? You are here to say goodbye?" He asked. Ino shifted uncomfortably against her seat.

"I was thinking that maybe I could hear your opinion about it." She said softly.

"You are my student, Ino. You know what I think about it." He said firmly and Ino bit her lip and she hated to say that she had no idea. Morino Ibiki was one mountain she could never climb high enough to see what's on its peak; one sea she could never dive deep enough to see its depth. Other people had been easy, but her master remained shrouded in mystery.

"I don't know, in fact."

"You don't _want to_ know." Ibiki told her as he closed his leather-covered book. "You don't see hard enough, Ino." Ino closed her eyes in annoyance. Give it to Ibiki to say things in code nobody could ever understand and he will not disappoint. What is it that she was she supposed to see? And besides, the conversation would have ended already if he had just given her answer right away.

"I am against it, of course. I was never a supporter of your arranged marriage anyway." Ibiki told her upon seeing her reaction.

"But ..."

"See, you don't want to know." Ibiki told her with a smile Ino came to hate so much. "You only hear what you want to hear."

Ino sighed exasperatedly and for a moment it was an uncomfortable silence in the big, cold room. Ino's mind was busy on weighing about whether she should tell her master the truth or not until she realized that Ibiki would know that she lied anyway.

"Was it because the Uchiha kid?" He broke her train of thoughts and she was taken aback by his spot-on question. How in the hell did he know about the whole incident?

"So it is," He answered his own question upon seeing her reaction and his expression was like he was brewing things in his mind. Ino cursed herself for being so easy to read even though she was this expressive and vulnerable only and only in front of Ibiki and no one else, not even in front of her own father. And in front of Sasuke, that _one _time.

"How do you know?"

"Little birds whispered to me." Ibiki smirked. Ino huffed in annoyance. It was a waste of a question since it was his job to know everything that happened. And it should be left only at that. Experience told her that she'd better left clueless.

"Take the Uchiha aside for a second; I heard you are getting along well with Genma." Ibiki told her and Ino looked at him wide-eyed, is there anything she had to tell him? He seems to know everything about her already. All the better, since he could just give her his answer already and, oh wait, he had. She just didn't agree with it. Maybe he's right. Maybe she just didn't want to know.

"Inoichi hated Genma." Ibiki answered his own questions again, taking answers from her face easily. Ino took a deep breath.

"So that's it? There's no good enough man for you within the Leaf?"

"There are plenty, in fact." Ino told him. "They don't like me." Ibiki laughed at her statement.

"Half of Konoha likes you, silly." Ibiki mocked her. "Even Kakashi secretly stashed a picture of you on his wallet."

"So what? He never made it clear to me." She scoffed. She had had enough with this. First, it was Sai and then it was Ibiki. So what if men like her? It was totally understandable for men to be attracted to a woman, and fling like that was totally normal. In the end, they didn't do a thing about it, and that's what counts. No matter how convincing those writing in Sai's notebooks, all Kiba does were smirking at her widely whenever they met each other, and Shino never said a single thing about things even though he had accompanied her shopping a million times more. She didn't even want to talk about Naruto because the last time she saw him, he was still busy swooning over Sakura. Ino didn't want to stay in Konoha over the fact that some men _probably_ liked her while she had the chance to be the wife of the man who was groomed to be the next Raikage AND the mother of the future generation Raikage as well.

Ibiki was right; her father had hated Genma to the core of the world, telling her that he was a sleazy man and everything that Shikamaru had said to her regarding him in their fights. And Sasuke ... Sasuke's for Sakura. That's it. No bargain. That one time had been a little mistake.

"And what about that Uchiha kid?"

"He's for Sakura." Ino said convincingly. This time, Ibiki scoffed.

"Is it one of the girl's games?" He asked, almost in a bored tone.

"Kinda." Ino answered hesitantly and Ibiki shrugged his head in ignorance.

"Then I think the answer's all clear for you."

"What?"

"Go, don't go. It's up to you, princess." He had mocked her when he called her that. "You never want to know my opinion. You only hear what you want to hear."

XXX

"You're dismissed." Tsunade said that to a bunch of genins when Ino entered the room. Tsunade was especially cheerful today and Ino was glad to see that. Tsunade could be incredibly generous when she's on good mood.

"Ino." She greeted her. "What bring you here?" She asked in a pleasant tone. Ino took a step forward and for once in her life, she felt like fiddling her finger.

"It's regarding _that._" Ino emphasized her last word and at that, Tsunade's face darkened.

"Ah, _that_." Tsunade said. "Do you want to bail out? It's okay. I heard you're getting along well with Shiranui nowadays." She forced a soft smile that failed miserably and she looked like she was pouting instead. Ino closed her eyes.

Did the whole village know about her affair with Genma? They were not even supposed to be that sensational!

"No, no." Ino said hastily. "In fact, I want to be assigned for a mission in Kumo ... until my birthday." She told her.

Ino swore Tsunade's eyes gleamed for a second before she put her chin on her linked hands.

"Are you sure?" She asked her, and Ino nodded. Ino knew that Tsunade was always the number one, and the only supporter for the arranged marriage. The marriage was very beneficial to Konoha since it means that the future Raikage would have Konoha blood running through his vein, and Ino was a mind walker that could gather information about Kumo for Konoha, just in case things went south. And Sakura was too precious to give away to Kumo, Hinata was the next in line Hyuuga head, and Tenten was ... Tenten. It had to be _her_. Ino knew this very well but she had made peace with that fact long ago. What could she do anyway? Hating herself to the end of the world? That's _so _not her.

"Yes. So ..." Ino let her words hung on the air.

"Sure! When do you want to leave?" Tsunade asked her as she started shifted through her paperwork. At that moment, the office was opened and Shizune entered the room.

"Ino! Going for a mission?" Shizune had always been friendly and sisterly toward her. Ino was told that she had talent in medical ninjutsu, but she believed that it was because of Shizune's brilliant and patient teaching that made her so able.

"Yeah." She said softly as she eyed Tsunade, wishing that she didn't tell Shizune anything. Shizune and Sakura had been the exact opposite of Tsunade; they were the number one opposition for the arranged marriage to the point of desperately matchmaking Ino with some random guys. That one time when Ino was approached by Genma in the flower shop, she was suspicious that it was probably Shizune's doing (which apparently was not hers, but that just goes to show the length of what Shizune will do). Tsunade, on the other hand, was of course oblivious that a set of meaningful eyes was looking at her.

"She decided that she's going to Kumo until her birthday." She told Shizune.

"WHAT?" Shizune yelled in shock. Ino gave her a guilty smile as she approached her.

"What are you thinking, Ino? You shouldn't ... rush into things like that!" She told her, she grabbed her wrist with a look of concern.

"Why?" Shizune asked her demandingly.

_It's because I don't want to see Sasuke ever again so that he won't be able to shake my resolve and make me end up betraying my best friend, _her mind screamed.

"It's about time I get to know Darui-san better if I am going to marry him." Ino answered stiffly and Shizune looked at her in horror.

"Don't be such a drama queen, Shizune." Tsunade told her in a half laugh. "Darui is a good soldier, Ino." She told her.

"Yes, I believe." Ino answered. She had spent some time with Darui before during his visit to Konoha to meet her father and her visit to Kumo to meet the Raikage and he looked like a little bit more diligent version of Shikamaru. But that is all there is to it, she spent much more time with C talking about medical things. C had that effect on making people feel much smarter when they talked to him and Ino loved that.

"So, when do you want to leave?" Tsunade asked lightly as she already filled half of the new mission paperwork.

"This afternoon?" Ino tried and she knew that this is when things get hard. It was not like she was in an emergency and Tsunade never liked a sudden mission.

"Are you crazy, Ino?" Shizune asked her in horror as she yanked her hands.

"I'm ... Today is the best time for me to leave. My father is away on a mission and I've sorted it out with my mother. She says OK."

"What? You are just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

Oh God, she wished Shizune stopped. The guilt was too overwhelming and she didn't need to be reminded about it. It's better and always better if she left before her father's back. She had to tell him about her mission request and then he'd throw tantrums all over the village, getting drunk and made everyone's day worse and in the end she'd pity him and stayed. She didn't want that.

"Even I have to say that it is very sudden, Ino." Tsunade gave her a look of concern.

"I know." Ino said, looking away from her piercing gaze.

"But well, I can see your point." Tsunade looked at the paperwork hesitantly.

"Tonight, you can leave tonight." Tsunade told her. "Is that good enough for you?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"What is this lunacy?" Shizune roared in frustration. "Think straight, Ino." She eyed her desperately.

"Don't worry about her, Ino." Tsunade told Ino with a smirk. "She's just jealous you got married first. Now you're dismissed."

"Very well, Hokage-sama."

With that, Ino left the room while ignoring Shizune's call for her. She sighed as she walked down the street. She had packed for her things last night; her room was practically empty now. She was thinking about telling Shikamaru and Chouji about her confidential mission but Ino was not ready for some more drama. Not after what happened yesterday. She was a drama queen alright, but yesterday's drama had skyrocketed through anything she could handle. Something that involved her long life friendship and her long live love was simply too much for her. In the end, she decided to have an early brunch at a small cafe at the Tea District. The weather was warm and nice so she decided to eat outside. She noticed that there's nobody she knew at the cafe so after ordering her food she pulled out her unfinished novel.

The so-called graphic novel that Kakashi had lent to her.

"Morning, beautiful." A familiar voice greeted her and as she lowered her book, she noticed her favorite senbon picker. She beamed at him. After all the drama, a relaxed, detached time with Genma was exactly what she needs.

Genma had that ability to make her feel calmer and more confident when he's around. He made her forgot that she indeed had a marriage arrangement with someone else faraway. He was that kind of person and he appeared in front of her, now. _Talk about timing_, she thought as she watched him took a seat.

"Do we have a date?" Ino asked playfully in a teasing tone and Genma grinned back.

"Do we have to? It's just an innocent brunch." Genma flashed her his charming smile while ordering foods to the waiter. Ino almost melted at his smile. This man is charming! This man is gorgeous! Ino liked him, _a lot!_

Except that he was supposed to be a philandering pervert who slept with half of Konoha and be proud of it. Ino totally understood why half of Konoha submitted to him, though.

"So." Ino started as she watched her cup of coffee came.

"So." Genma replied. "I heard you're going on a mission tonight." He said it lightheartedly but Ino had trained far too long under Ibiki not to read between the lines. Of course Genma didn't just appear out of the blue. Of course someone had sent him for her.

"Shizune told you?" Ino asked as her face darkened. Genma laughed as he casually held her hand. His hand was so warm and Ino had to fight the urge to squeeze back.

"Don't be so tense about it. Indeed, Shizune banged on my door and told me everything frantically. But I do want to see you." He caressed her hands. "God, your hand's cold."

"Everything? What is everything?" Ino asked him in disbelief. She was entertaining the idea of dramatically pulled out her hand from his clutch but it was just ... so warm.

"Gibberish." Genma laughed. "She said that I should stop you at all cost from going tonight and maybe should seduce you." There had been an amused glint at his eyes.

"Anything at all cost." He repeated firmly, mimicking Shizune. Ino sighed.

"You're not going to seduce me, are you?" Genma grinned.

"Depends on how you like it." He told her. Ino learned that that phrase was one of Genma's favorites. She liked that too. It is fueled with so much innuendo and gave her power.

That must be why half of Konoha submitted to him.

"I have to go, anyway." Ino told him casually and she might have to thank Shizune later. Genma made fabulous companion.

"Yeah?" Genma said, sipping his tea elegantly. "Is it an important mission? Risk your life on the line?"

"No, not really." Ino said after giving it some thought. "It's just some diplomatic missions."

"Interesting." Genma watched her. "Then why the fuss, I wonder." He hummed as he started to slice his pancake.

"It took a long time." Ino said, trying to be as casual as possible. "5 months! Can't you believe it?" Of course she didn't have to tell him that she was the one asking for that mission. Genma nodded absent-mindedly as he chewed his pancake.

"Kumo?" He asked as he ate some more pancake. Ino tried to be not looking perplexed by his spot-on guess.

"Yes. How do you know?"

"You seem to be involved with Kumo recently." Genma said as he drank his tea. Ino frowned.

"Really?"

"Yeah, that mission to Kumo, that visit from Kumo, everything involved you and no other team. It's easy." He said. Ino nodded. Has it been THAT obvious?

"Yeah, Tsunade-sama especially gave that mission to me." Ino said. Genma looked at her and smiled.

"You'll be 18 by the time you're back, won't you?" He asked. Ino nodded solemnly._ And married._

"Ready to be my bride by then?" The question shocked her but she kept her cool.

"Genma!" Ino slapped his hand playfully as she laughed. Genma caught it and looked at her seriously.

"It's not a cheesy pick-up line, Ino." He told her.

"I'm not getting younger and it's about time I settle. I want to be married, and it's to you."

"So sweet." Ino chuckled. She had to wriggle out of this. She had to.

"I'm dead serious, sweetheart." Genma looked at her eyes. Ino gulped.

So much for a relaxed, detached brunch.

**Oooh! Will Ino go for the mission? And what did she say about the sudden proposal? **

**ANYWAY.**

**I have to ... end it here. Because a) I love cliffhanger. b) I know I'm the author, but I'm not sure who she'll end up with. YET. (thoughts on the review maybe?)**

**Also, when I mention that Darui is Ino's betrothed, I kinda, blurt his name out of the blue. I mean ... I didn't even do research about him yet. What he's like and all ... but then, I kinda fall in love with him and maybe just maybe ...**

**But everyone else is so delicious as well ... help me **

**Please review and I know this is quite a random chapter and ... IT'S GENMA AGAIN FOR GOD SAKE! But I love Genma he's so charming and lovable and charming and lovable and charming and lovable.**  
** (and of course spoiler for the next chapter title. It's going to be titled ... Hyuuga Neji!)**

**ANYWAY REVIEW! **

**AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYBODY WHO HAD REVIEWED AND READ AND FAVORITED AND FOLLOWED THIS STORY OF MINE. :'') **

**Fanficition verse is a magical world to me, really.**


	7. Haruno Sakura

**Hi everyone! It seems like I got a change of heart and decided to slip a short Sakura chapter before the Neji chapter. You know, I kinda need to know what happen between the two. By the way, thanks for everyone who has read/favorited/followed/reviewed.**

**ps : I did a little bit of editing on the story. Just adding more spaces, breaks, a few sentences ... and things like that hahaha.**

**Finally, enjoy!**

"Hey." Ino greeted her as she approached the leaning pinkette. The blonde's cerulean eyes soon met emerald green and Sakura felt her resolve was shaken already. By shaken, she meant that irritation was starting to surface and the scene from earlier was brutally replayed in her mind over and over. Ino kissed Sasuke so passionately_. _The way his hands ever so slowly slid to her back, pulling her closer for a deeper kiss. Sakura took a deep breath.

_Calm_, she summoned a thought to herself. She was not going to be bitter about it, she repeated to herself for what seems like a hundred times. Ino drank a suspicious purple liquid Naruto had so 'self-handedly' made just for her (Sakura got a pink liquid that tasted like a cough syrup) before leaned herself on the wall next to her.

"Ino." She greeted back. Sakura had to admit that she was not ready for this. A part of her wanted to run away. A part of her didn't want explanations. A part of her didn't want to look at the bitter fact that the love of her life just kissed her best friend for life. There was a thick silence between them as Sakura's mind was racing. The more she thinks about this, the more irritating it gets. She fully realized that she completely had no right to be angry at her for kissing Sasuke. Sasuke could choose anyone he likes and it happened to be Ino. It happened to be _not _her. Also, she felt like a hypocrite by getting angry at Ino. She was so against the arranged marriage that she practically shoved Ino guys. There was no feeling in this world that could elaborate her relief when Sai told her that he was interested in Ino and her disappointment when Sai told her that his interest was apparently short-lived. And then, to watch her with a guy and then be sad about it was ... hypocritical, right? That guy was Sasuke, indeed, but still.

"I'm sorry." Ino finally broke the silence and Sakura couldn't help but not to look at her in her eyes and she felt a twinge of pain.

"I'm not angry." Sakura replied brightly, she even gave her best friend a pat on her shoulder as reassurance. Ino snorted.

"You're a bad liar." Ino folded her hands.

"Sorry." Sakura replied while averting her gaze. "I'm a little bit angry, I have to admit."

"You've promised, Ino! You've promised that Sasuke is meant for me and you're not going to stand in the way!" Sakura burst suddenly, pain was all over her words and she could tell by Ino's wince that she felt it too.

"I'm not standing in the way!" Ino retorted, hurt. "Deliberately." She added quietly.

"Are you actually blaming Sasuke for kissing you?" Sakura scoffed in disgust. Ino let out a frustrated sigh.

"Listen, Sasuke is meant to be yours and after what had happened, it didn't change anything, okay? What you have seen earlier was a mistake." Ino told her in a firm tone. Sakura didn't answer as her eyes stared blankly at the crowds before her.

"It's just that ... it seems like I can't get rid of a tiny portion of my old feelings yet." That sentence managed to stole Sakura's attention as she looked at her. Ino didn't seem to notice as she was looking at her purple drink instead.

"The only one I should love is Darui-san though, so there's no need to be jealous anymore okay?" Ino gave her a smile when she looked up. Sakura froze.

She would have launched her usual talk about how the arranged marriage was a ridiculous idea and Konoha had a lot of men worthy of Ino instead of some random men faraway amidst the mountain.

She would have if not for one big staring fact that Ino knew very well and conveniently used against her.

She no longer had the rights.

.

.

Sakura watched in silence as the events unfolded before her. Her chakra stayed still, her presence was perfectly masked. She watched Ino being brought to a quieter side of Naruto's house by Sasuke. She watched as they spoke in high tones, Sasuke was eager on winning her to his side. Her name was brought up occasionally by Ino, and it pained her how Sasuke dismissed her so easily, saying that it's them that matters. The conversation went round and round, Ino stayed firm with her opinion that Sasuke should be with her, but somehow it didn't make her happy. She felt like a villain for both of them. Ino was still in love with Sasuke, that much was obvious. But, just this once, can't she be selfish? Can't she turn blind eye to the fact that she was being in the way of their love?

Sakura loved Sasuke _that _much.

Sasuke had held her hand possessively in his hand the whole conversation, he was trying his best to convince her while Sakura clutched her hands tightly on the hem of her skirts.

"I have loved you since the academy days, Ino." Sasuke told her, his eyes locked on hers.

That did it. It was as if she was never in the game. It was as if her attempt to break her friendship with Ino back then was futile. Sasuke never had his eyes on her. It was always on Ino.

She could feel tears started to trickle down her eyes. She didn't stay to see what Ino said, she left.

It was too painful.

XXX

There were loud bangs on her door when she woke up the next day. She was still drowsy from last night, and she suspected that the pink liquid was what made her head pounding loudly at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here." She answered as she dragged herself to the door. As soon as she opened the key, Shizune barged in into her room.

"Sakura! There's an emergency!" She told her with a panic edge at her voice.

"What is it?"

"It's Ino!" Shizune said.

Oh.

"Yeah, yeah. What about her?" She asked reluctantly but Shizune sunk too deep in her panic to notice. She had predicted Ino having a breakdown and going on doing stupid things, of course. She'd probably shopped herself to death in her favorite store. She did that during her first failure on chuunin exam and lost her 6-months worth of mission money over some stupid heels, wedges and tons of purple dresses. Or she probably decided to accompany Chouji on his culinary adventure for weeks and gained weights. Ino did that during a breakup with a civilian man from the Fire Country and had to train with Gai for weeks to lose her weights (Ino told Sakura _everyday _while eating her low-calorie porridge that it was the biggest mistake in her life).

"She requested a 5 month mission in Kumo! That's madness!"

That's madness. Indeed.

"That's stupid and rash and ridiculous." Sakura gritted her teeth. Ino and her ability to make rushed decision never stopped to faze her.

"You have to stop her, Sakura. Please."

Sakura sighed. How could she after what had happened last night?

"We could lose her forever to Kumo!" Shizune added and Sakura growled at that. Sakura loved Ino like her own sister and she truly believed that she deserved more happiness than arranged marriage. She deserved Shikamaru who always looked out to her. She deserved Kiba and all his boyish good looks. She deserved everyone.

But not Sasuke.

She gulped. How could she explained this to her? It was like 'stay here; you deserve everyone in the world but Sasuke. He's for me.' and Sakura could never bring herself to sound that selfish.

"Sakura!" Shizune called her. "She left tonight. You must do something right _now_." Shizune emphasized her last word. Sakura let out a frustrated sigh. Ino and her sneakiness.

"Yes, yes." She answered. "I'll find a way."

XXX

Sakura let herself into Ino's room only to be shocked. The room had been completely empty, even the mattress had no longer sheets on them. Ino's purple wallpaper had been shredded and the wall was now stark white.

_She did this in a night?_

"Sakura." Another voice greeted her and she found Shikamaru on the window as he jumped down to the room. From his expression, he was shocked as well.

"Whoa. Do I get the wrong room?" He looked around.

"Nuh-uh. Ino is assigned for a long mission tonight." Sakura said as she checked the bathroom. The room was the same with the bedroom; it smelled like generic bathroom cleaner, not of mango; Ino's new favorite scent. The scented candles had vanished. It was just a plain bathroom.

"And then she emptied her room?" A hint of disbelief was in Shikamaru's voice.

"5 months to Kumo."

"She just ... accepts the mission like that?" He asked hesitantly.

"She requested it, in fact." Sakura said. Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably at her response.

"So ... any chance you know where she is right now?" He asked her and Sakura solemnly shook her head.

"I wish I knew." She said. "I bet she's hiding from all of us until tonight."

"Hiding? That doesn't exactly sound like Ino."

"Requesting a long-term mission doesn't exactly sound like Ino, either." Sakura retorted. Shikamaru didn't respond and Sakura knew that Shikamaru agreed with her.

"How troublesome. And now, I have to look for her. She can't just go for that long without telling me." Shikamaru said as he hopped onto the window.

"Tell me if you found her, okay?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru said as he jumped away from the room. Sakura inhaled the stale air in that room. She had searched for Ino everywhere. The flower shop, T&I division, the Nara compound, training fields, _everywhere_. It was almost like Ino didn't want to be found. She decided to walk along the Tea Street and look at each of the cafe and restaurant carefully when she walked past through Genma.

"Genma-san." Sakura greeted him. Genma stopped and looked at her.

"Ah, if it isn't Sakura-chan." Genma said friendly as he approached her.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Have you seen Ino?" Sakura asked. Genma's expression was unreadable for a second before he offered her a grin.

"Yes. In fact I just have a nice brunch with her." He said.

"Where is she now?"

"Should I tell?" Genma said as he smiled childishly. Sakura had no time for the game. Ino's leaving tonight for God sake!  
"Spill." She said irritably and Genma chuckled at her irritation.

"Fine, she's heading to the library." He told her. "You're not beautiful when you're frowning like that, Sakura-chan."

"Save those for other women, Genma-san." Sakura said. She didn't know how Ino could spend hours and hours with Genma while she felt offended at one flirt.

"Now if you'll excuse me." She said as she walked past through him and headed to the the went to the third floor, Ino's favorite section of the library. It is where all the books and magazines about flowers and herbs are stored. She was right this time. Ino was reading a book alone in the spacious room when she entered. Usually there would be some medic nins doing research, but well, it's Saturday.

"Found you." Sakura approached her as she sat next to her. Ino looked at her and gave her a grin. The same grin that Genma offered her just earlier. Sakura didn't dislike Genma, but she hated how he infected Ino with his ... Genma-ness.

"Oh, are we playing hide and seek?" She asked with an amused tone. There. More Genma-ness.

"No." Sakura said as she put her heads on the table. "God, I've been searching for you everywhere. Why are you in the library anyway?"

"Research." Ino hummed. "Do you know that sakurayu, a salt pickled sakura which was delved in hot water, was drunk during weddings?"

"Really?" Sakura asked as she looked at the photograph of a cup of water with sakura blooms in it. Ino nodded.

"Cool huh? I'm definitely going to drink sakurayu instead of green tea on my wedding." Ino said as she flipped the page. Sakura nodded awkwardly and then silence enveloped the room.

"When are you going to talk?" Ino chuckled as she broke the silence. "Shizune sends you, no?" Sakura was entertaining the idea of acting oblivious but she was in no mood of games. Ino always won those kinds of psychological games anyway.

"Uh-uh." Sakura said. "Said that you're making stupid decision."

"Do you think that it's stupid?" She hummed.

"Very." Sakura answered immediately.

"Really?" Ino replied in a detached tone as she flipped the pages again.

"Do you remember when you gain weights after you have a breakup with Takashi, Takeshi, or whoever that is?" Sakura asked her.

"Oh, you still remember! His name is Satoshi by the way." Ino replied brightly. The topic seems to bring her mood back.

"You told me every _single_ day that it was the biggest mistake in your life."

"Uh-uh. Indeed." Ino said. "Life was torturous back then." She hummed.

"This is going to be an even bigger mistake if you do _this_. Wedding is something for a lifetime, and you shouldn't do it just because ..." Sakura's word trailed off as she looked at Ino who looked back at her with an unreadable look.

It was as if Ino dared her to say the words.

Sakura took a deep breath and decided to start anew.

"Ino, listen. If it's about last night ..."

At that, Ino let out a loud snort as she closed the book.

"You listen, Sakura." She said as she looked at her sharply. "Sometimes, life's not all about you, okay?"

Sakura's eyes widened. How dare she to say that? Everything had been always about _her_ all the time. She thought of Ino's arranged marriage day and night, brought it up _all _the time to Tsunade, desperately try to find a way to hook Ino up with men and she just said that life's not all about her?

"How dare you!" Sakura yelled.

"How dare me? How dare you, Sakura. How dare you to mind my business. Going or not going, it was my business. You have no right!" Ino yelled back. Sakura's eyes widened at her replies.

" You ..." Sakura was at a loss of words. She was too hurt.

" Sasuke's for you, alright. But just ... just stop trying to put your hands in my life. I don't want you to be involved anymore."

"I won't be involved if you stop making stupid decisions after another!" Sakura yelled. Ino shook her head solemnly.

"It's not for you to decide what's stupid and what's not about my life. Even if it's stupid, it's not your job to save me, Sakura." Ino said.

Sakura looked at her best friend in disbelief. Did Ino just try to shoo her away from her life?

"How can you say that Ino! We are best friends!"

"Really? What if I submit to Sasuke last night? Will us still be best friends?" Ino shot back and Sakura froze at that.

How could she dare to submit to Sasuke? Ino had _promised_ her!

"You ... Just rot in Kumo!" She yelled for the last time and stomped her way out of the room. Tears were falling down her eyes. Never in her life had she thought that she and Ino would drift apart once again. Over the same reason.

Over _Sasuke._

Shikamaru was outside the room as they passed each other on the door. He looked confused at the tears streaming down her eyes as he took a seat next to Ino. She was already walking away but she could still his conversation with Ino for a little bit.

"Fighting with Sakura?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's better that way."

Tears are coming down her eyes without stopping as she left the library. Maybe Ino was right.

Maybe it's better that way.

**How is it? How is it? This chapter is a short one but well ... is it good enough?**

**Thoughts on review! **

**(And thanks for all of my reviewers! You're all angels. I knew it.)**


	8. Hyuuga Neji

**I AM BACK! After some long holiday or something like that, I finally write again! I have a new cover picture for the story, cool isn't it! Naruto's not mine and ENJOY!**

"Tenten, this is nothing but a humble opinion of mine, but I think three thousand laps a day is necessary to maintain ideal weight." Lee told his female teammate in his signature all-knowing tone as the member of team Gai made their way to the Hokage tower for debriefing for their last mission. The weapon master's face reddened at Lee's bold remark and she loudly asked him if he thought that her weight was not ideal. Lee's honest answer was always, _always_ his own grave. Neji couldn't help but to let out a little smile when Tenten punched Lee hard after hearing his bold answer (" While I believe that you're very beautiful – not as beautiful as Sakura-chan though- I hate to be the one who delivers this to you but you're not exactly proportional, Tenten. Your thighs are too big and your breasts are too small."). She then looked at the smiling Neji with barbaric expression.

"What are you smiling about? Did you find that funny?" She demanded with a high pitch voice and Neji calmly shook his head.

"No." He said casually, not wanting to irk the weapon master. The rest of the walk was filled with silence and occasional grunting from Lee, it seems like the punch hit harder than he thought. It was almost funny how Lee could anytime easily overpowered Tenten and still decided to take her punch head on instead, but nevertheless, Neji shared an understanding with that. The fact that Tenten was a girl and they were boys was descriptive enough to explain the dynamics of their friendship – or the rule on who hits who-. Neji sighed proudly at his own thought, the word 'dynamics of friendship' would never even cross the thought of the old Neji. Hyuuga Neji had changed and he was happy with that.

They finally arrived at the Hokage office after several more minutes of walking and there was a glint of relief in Tsunade's eyes as they stood in front of her. The fifth Hokage glowed much more brighter than usual and Neji knew that it had nothing to do with her rejuvenating jutsu.

"Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten. You did a great job at retrieving the important scroll from Kusa." She said as she read their report and when she shrugged her head to look at them, she was beaming. Tenten beamed back at her, proud that her idol was satisfied with her work.

"And while I bet you're still tired with your last A-rank mission," Tsunade started in a tone that Neji knew too well that there was something else -which usually was unpleasant – coming. "I have just one another mission for you to take today."

There.

"That is most honoring, Tsunade-sama." Lee answered with a gentleman manner that came out of nowhere. "The beauty of two missions in a row! This is a good training for us." He continued. Neji looked at Tenten to search for support, but the girl was already swept away by Tsunade's prior compliment. It was definitely two against one.

"We can't do that. The protocol was that we didn't take any mission for the next 3 days after completing an A-rank mission or above." Neji tried but Tsunade shrugged it off with a chuckle.

"Don't be such a strict man, Neji. Protocols are made to be bent whenever convenient, anyway. Besides, we absolutely need your team's assistance in this mission." She eyed Tenten with an assuring look.

That old crone. She knew that Tenten was a sucker for her compliment. Neji huffed in annoyance. He had planned training sessions with Hinata tomorrow and maybe he could dig some info about Ino from her The most pleasant thing about Hinata is that even though she found out that he had a crush on Ino, she wouldn't tell a single soul. Tenten, on the other hand, was a little bit hard to trust in that department. Neji's train of thoughts were then broken by Tenten cheery remarks.

"We would absolutely be happy to help, Tsunade-sama."

There was a victorious smile on Tsunade's complexion before it turned into the usual professional look when she briefed a team for a mission.

"The mission is B-rank. However, failure is unacceptable." She eyed them. "I'll have you all demoted to genin rank shall this mission be failed." Her glare when she looked at each of them one by one was icy, it seemed like her relieved and relaxed look from earlier had gone to nowhere. Lee gulped and Tenten flinched at her glare. Neji, on the other hand, frowned at that. Demoting ninjas is usually done over some fatal mistakes or abstinence from mission in a long period. A failed B-rank mission couldn't be a reason for demotion usually. Neji was going to question about it but the sound of door being knocked and opened interrupted him. Gai waltzed into the room and Lee greeted him in exaggerating manner.

"Sensei!" He cried in happiness.

"Lee!" The greeting was sealed with a bone-crunching hug between the two with the background of sunset. Tenten rolled her eyes . They had seen the two in their hyperbole method of communicating for what feels like forever now, but Neji would never be accustomed to that. The concept of springtime of youth was something he never quite get a grasp on.

"So it's a four-man cell," Neji looked at Tsunade who nodded briefly.

"Gai would be joining you for this mission indeed."

"This is mostly just your usual escort mission." Tsunade continued.

"An escorting mission with two jonins and two chuunins? Who are we escorting?" Neji asked skeptically. Even the daimyo was escorted by four chuunins, for God sake.

"You'll be escorting Yamanaka Ino to Kumogakure." Tsunade said.

"Ino?" The way Tenten gasped gave away the fact that she knew about the arranged marriage. Tsunade's lips quirked into a small smile.

"Ino is arranged to be married with Darui of the Kumogakure." She told them in a calm tone but nonetheless, Lee and Gai still responded with an over-the-top reaction.

"That is awesome!" Lee cheered.

"Marriage is a key to eternal youth!" Gai cried in happiness. "Asuma will be proud watching her from his grave!" He exclaimed. Tsunade seemed satisfied with the warm reception of the information.

"Your mission was to escort her to Kumogakure, help her settle for the next five months, and most importantly, _ensure_ the wedding happens." Tsunade told them sternly. "Failure is not acceptable, and my threat about demotion is not empty." The tone in her voice was indicating that she was serious.

"We will not fail!" Lee said confidently. "With the help of youth and love, nothing could stand in front of us!" His eyes were practically burning with will at the moment.

Neji froze where he stood. He was to ensure the wedding of Darui and Ino?

_Never._ _Never in a thousand years._

He seriously considered to withdraw from the mission before something else was taken by his consideration. Ino was going to Kumo for the next five months, and she was going to marry Darui there. The moment he withdrew from this mission was the moment when his chance of making Ino his deflated to zero, and he previously thought fifteen percent was bad enough. Also, the fact that she was going to Kumo means that all the other boys couldn't get their arms around her. It would practially be a one on one battle with him and Darui. His chance boosted up to fifty percent by taking the mission. It was a no-brainer , apparently.

"The mission's going to need resilience which your team does best," Tsunade gave an acknowledging nod to both Gai and Lee who instantly gave her a thumb.

"Ino's heart is easily swayed and it is your job to convince her that the marriage is right." Tsunade said.

This mission is destined to fail. It was the first time Neji was given a mission and decided to sabotage it . His loyalty toward Konoha was fierce and he would have killed Ino without hesitation had she gone rogue and pose a threat to Konoha. However, her arranged marriage was an utterly different matter. He was not that stupid to let her be stolen away from him for the sake of some so-called alliance.

"And when it's hard , just remind yourself that there will be generous award waiting for you at the end of the day." There was a short moment of musing in Tsunade's part before she continued. "Or the punishment of failure that awaits."

Neji sighed as he realized that he forgot to consider the prospect of demotion. Tsunade must have known about the possibility of one of them straying, but Neji was resolute about his decision. No amount of demotion would stop him from sabotaging this mission.

This is his last and only chance on winning her, after all.

XXX

This is not the kind of situation that he had expected to happen. Where are the flurry battles of all men fighting for one woman in the name of love? Was it all only a myth? Sai shook his head in dissatisfaction. No one make a bold move except for the shameless Genma and possessive Sasuke, and it was even done separately! He would have expected at least battle of arguments from Genma and Sasuke, even though it was remotely possible. He had to do something to spice things up. He had to intervene for things to get heated. His last intervention before Ino fled to Kumo and became unreachable. With that in mind, he knocked the door and mustered up a smile. The door flung open and a feminine figure emerged, looking a little bit surprised by his visit.

"Good afternoon, Shizune-san. I think it's about time we join forces."

XXX

Neji had volunteered to be the one who inform Ino about the mission. He hadn't met her for such a long time now, and the last time he saw her was when she was on a date with that sleazy Genma. Neji sighed in annoyance at the memory, he was annoyed mostly because Genma was such a philanderer and Ino didn't deserve him, but it was partly because that the senbon sucker get to be on a date with Ino first, that he had to be the first one who made the move. It was almost like he told all the other guys who develop feelings for Ino that they're a coward, and he's not so wrong. He was nowhere in progress because Tsunade had given him tons of missions ever since the dinner with Sai, but now he had been given the chance, and Neji was more than determined to make the best out of it.

He excused himself to the seemingly empty house and head straight to the room. He knocked the door of her room and opened the door. Ino was sitting on a chair with her heads lying on the desk in front of her. He took a step forward and she shrugged her head in an abrupt movement as if she had just realized his presence.

"To what do I owe this honor?" He knew that she had intended her voice to sound playful, but it was all just plain weary to him. It was obvious that she had been crying.

"My team is assigned to be your escort to Kumo." He answered curtly. Ino snorted.

"Wonderful." She said sarcastically. "How much do you know?"

"Everything. We leave tonight at 7 PM sharp."

She huffed. "That's quite a trick Tsunade pulled. You hate Kumo and you hate me. I bet she told you to ensure the wedding happen before leaving."

"I don't hate Kumo or you."

"Oh really, Kumo being the village that kills your father and you don't hate them? You must be some kind of an angel, Neji."

Oh, how Neji forgot how annoying Ino could get. He had changed a lot from how he used to back then, and yet she still kept getting on his nerve.

"Don't cross that line, Ino. I'm not that patient."

"And what?" She scoffed. "You're going to hit me like you used to?"

She's making things hard for him. He loved Ino and he wanted to protect her, but that little mouth of her kept spewing venomous words that get on his nerves. The fact that he had hit her once during their mission was repeatedly used as one of her ammo whenever she was getting mad at him.

"You know why I hit you that day, Ino. You cross the boundaries and dance on it." Neji maintained his calm. He tried to understand that this is Ino at her worst, things must have been weird for her, and she unleashed it toward him, inappropriate, but he understood that. Hehad to, if he wished on getting in her good side.

"I'm sorry." Ino finally said after several moments. "Things have been spiraling out of control recently and I can't quite keep up with it."

"It doesn't justify you unleashing it to me." He told her sternly and Ino made a small smile.

"I'm sorry."

"Is it about the marriage?" He asked her with a concerned look.

"Not really." She huffed in annoyance. "Right now I'm actually rather grateful with the marriage."

The huff in annoyance after was from Neji.

"You can't wait to get married to one of those Kumo dogs. Right."

"Oooh, is my ex-husband jealous?" She teased him as she put on her rucksack. "Let's go."

"Technically we never get divorced." He said as he followed Ino jumping to the street. His remark was soon followed by Ino's soft chuckle.

"We never technically get married either, so that doesn't matter."

Neji didn't have any response to that so he stayed silent and followed her to the front gate. As they made it to the Tea Avenue, it seems like there was a festival going on there.

"It's a night exhibition!" She gasped. Neji closed his eyes. God knows how much Ino loved festivals and exhibitions and event that was similar to that.

"Ino, it's almost 7 PM, you can see all the exhibitions you want in Kumo." Neji said.

Ino turned around and pouted. "Do you know that this is probably my last event in Konoha?"

"You're exaggerating." Neji deadpanned.

"Ha. Doesn't work." Ino said loudly. Neji rolled his eyes.

"You know I don't let sentiments interfering with the mission." He said as they pierced through the crowd in an excruciatingly slow pace. Ino was eyeing right and left with so much excitement that she probably didn't hear him.

"They sold that mauve skirt half price! Neji," She turned around. "Please?"

"They're the same skirt you're wearing now." Neji eyed her skirt and Ino chuckled in smugness.

"It's different color."

"It's purple."

"It's a _different _purple. I'm disappointed that this is coming from someone who can literally see through anything."

"It's purple, in general." Neji continued with his stubbornness. "And it's 7 PM now. Do you want Lee to charge you with 300 hundred laps?"

"Lee can't charge me." Ino lifted her chin vainly. "I once threaten him that I ..."

"Ino." A familiar dark voice greeted her and Neji heard that voice often enough to know who it belonged Sasuke stood in front of them with his hands in his pocket. Ino looked at him and gave him a smile.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun." She gave him an awkward smile. Sasuke gave her a judging look from head to toe before continuing.

"So you're really leaving."

"I wouldn't want to get in the way of you and Sakura." She said. Sasuke looked at her for a second and then shrugged his shoulder in total detachment.

"Yeah. Whatever." He said and as sudden as he came, he disappeared as he walked past through the crowd. Ino took a deep breath.

"You don't naturally socialize with Uchiha Sasuke." Neji pointed out.

"Did you call that socialization?" Ino retorted.

"He did go out of his way to find you and ask you that."

"So, we socialize. And then?"

"Are you still one of the girl that chases him around everywhere?"

"No. Girls grow up and Hinata's the only one who still does that."

"Don't bring Hinata into this." He told her sternly.

"Somebody got a thing for inceeeest." Ino teased him in a singsong mocking tone and Neji had to grit his teeth. He looked at Ino and gave her a reprimanding look.

"You're a step out of the boundary, Ino."

"Yeah. Sorry." Ino said in a totally unapologetic tone. "Anyone will undoubtedly got a thing for it anyway, when your cousin is as hot as Hinata."

"You should move on from Sasuke." Neji ignored her. "He's done too much bad for the village."

"Hmm." Was Ino's only response and they didn't talk for the rest of the walk. When they arrived at the front gate Lee and Tenten were already waiting for them.

"Sorry we're late." Ino said as she gave Tenten a friendly hug. "The exhibition is so wonderful that I couldn't help to ogle at each shop."

"Gai-sensei is sick." Tenten told them. "Food poisoning. His curry was tampered with."

"Hence the frustrated Lee." Neji glanced at a depressed Lee squatting with dark aura surrounding his figure. Ino frowned in confusion.

"Tampered with, by who?"

"We don't know, Shizune-san told us that it doesn't matter since it's only laxative and was probably just a prank, she said after a good pack of liquid infused into his body, he's good to go."

"What a silly prank." Neji frowned. "Are we going to wait for him getting infused?"

"Kakashi-sensei is being briefed at the moment as Gai-sensei's substitute." The weapon master said.

"Kakashi, huh." Ino muttered.

"Yo." The familiar lazy voice greeted them as the silver haired jonin held up his hand. Ino turned her back on him.

"We should go."

XXX

"Are you sure this will work?" Shizune asked hesitantly as she closed the door to Gai's room. Sai shrugged his head as he stood up from where he sat.

"It's the only way."

"I hope Kakashi and Neji will convince her back." Shizune said with a look of concern as she looked at Sai's notebook before giving it back to its rightful owner.

"I hope your note is not bogus."

"Please, Shizune-san." Sai smiled. "I took great pride in my work."

XXX

"It is my fault that I let Gai-sensei eat the whole bowl of curry. I should go to Kumo on my hands." Lee said as he shifted his position to the handstand stance.

"You're going to slow the progress of the mission, Lee." Tenten huffed.

"With the power of youth, I believe I can keep up with you guys!" His tone was one of the determined and confident one as he nimbly jumped from tree to tree with his hands. Ino who ran at the center of the formation turned her head around and looked at him.

"Lee, what will I do if there are bad guys attacking us while you still get your hands sore all over?" Lee smiled widely and gave her a thumb while he was still maintaining his handstand position.

"It'll be okay, Ino-chan! This is part of the training and ..."

"Hmm, I wonder what Sakura will say if you get your hands sore like that." Ino cut him fast. "Oh, I guess it's 'That's pathetic! Sasuke's way cooler!' or something like that."

Sakura and Sasuke in the same sentence seems to be the magic words as Lee quickly moved back to his normal position.

"Thank you for enlightening me, Ino-chan! Oh, how I was so blind while I stand in the way of my eternal love." Lee said dramatically.

"However, my crime to Gai-sensei won't go unpunished!" Lee said. "Maybe I should bring two hundred kilos of rocks in my back while we're running."

"There's no end to this." Tenten snorted.

"Lee, why don't you run three hundred laps around the village instead once we reach Kumo? Running is good for your whole body." She gave him a smile. "Rocks in your back are going to make your back and shoulder sore. I don't think Sakura like sore back or shoulder either."

"Yes, Ino-chan! Anything to get Sakura likes me."

Neji chuckled. "That's rather cruel, Ino. Kumo was thrice as big as Konoha."

"Oh really," Ino said. "Sakura likes guys with stamina, I heard. Naruto's rather good with that … Maybe she'll like him instead?"

"I CAN RUN THREE THOUSANDS LAPS AROUND KUMO!" Lee's whole body was burning with will of fire and Ino grinned with satisfaction at Neji.

"Don't look so smug. You reap what you sow, Ino. You'll get dragged somehow."

XXX

He watched the sky as the others fell into a deep slumber due to exhaustion. They have been running for nearly eight hours without stopping (mostly because Lee's bold refusal to rest) until finally Kakashi, the leader of the mission, ordered them to stop and rest until dawn. Lee himself looked like he was exhausted to so his weak refusal was immediately crushed by Ino easily ("Sakura loves people who knows when to rest, I bet."). Neji lost the jan-ken-pon and was on for the first watch. He didn't feel that exhausted, actually. Things with Gai-sensei sometimes had been meaninglessly harder.

Suddenly, there was a creaking sound at his back and he immediately turned around and turned his Byakugan on. A small squirrel meekly rushed into the bush faraway. Neji sighed, that was unnecessary. He glanced toward the camp to make sure that everyone was there, and indeed there was four figures lying inside the camp … except Ino's and Kakashi's body were bunshins. Neji's eyes widened in surprise. Where could the two of them be?

He quietly looked around and focused his eyes and did a complete 360 degrees swap. They shouldn't be so faraway. Neji hesitated to leave his post unmanned so he made a bunshi to walk around to widen his radius. He walked deeper into the forest as his mind raced as to why Ino and his team leader missing. Ino and Kakashi's intensity of socializing was as rare as Ino and Sasuke's, only rarer, so they couldn't possibly went away to hang out. They must got some secret missions from Lady Tsunade, and that fact actually made him hesitate to meddle with whatever their business are. But, what if something else happened? Kakashi didn't strike him as someone who would get kidnapped or something like that, but life had proven to him one too many times that anything could happen. One can never be too cautious. Neji continued his walk for another several minutes when he finally saw a familiar figure of hair in high ponytail faraway. He immediately recognized it as Ino's and rushed closer before the view become clearer and … what?

_What in the world are they doing?_

Neji froze at his place where he currently stood with his byakugan looked at Ino … and Kakashi, behind her. He had never slept with a woman, but he was well-informed enough to know what _that position_ implied. Emotions after emotions washed over him and he wasn't even sure that rage was one of them. He was jealous. And disappointed. Why in the world Ino and Kakashi did _that_? His mind raced in an utter chaos and Neji found it hard to cling to composure to stay within his chakra disguise. He was brimmed with so many questions in his mind.

Was it actually a super secret mission? But what's the point?

Or did they sleep with each other … just like that?

If yes, then since when? Was it only a moment of passion? Was it just some kind of Ino's breakdown?

And if yes, why Kakashi? Why not him?

Questions after questions barged into his mind and he decided to walk away from there. He wanted to go away from that very spot, he wanted to deactivate his byakugan, he wanted to dismiss the bunshin, but his body didn't function. He stood at that spot very still, his byakugan still feeding him vision of Kakashi screwing Ino. His brain kept repeating 'Why Kakashi?' over and over. When he snapped out of his trance, they seemed to have done with their previous _business_, and were tidying up. She seemed to have said something to Kakashi, but he couldn't hear what. Feeling like he's half in anyway, Neji walked closer until they were within his earshot which actually was nearly as far as his vision, he stopped as soon as Ino's voice could be heard.

"... won't care." He only caught the last part of her sentence.

"You don't have to dramatize everything, Ino-chan." His ear was now feeding him Kakashi's voice. There was patience in his tone. "It's only one question."

"So, you do don't care." Ino said. "I guess it's too much to ask, right? For you to be at least jealous." Her voice had been one of those that reminded him of a little girl who's throwing tantrums because her dad didn't buy her shoes.

"I am jealous and it doesn't change everything." There was his sigh. "Tsunade ordered the team to convince you to marry Darui at the expense of our rank. You know what Tsunade means by 'convince'." Kakashi said.

"Even though if you want, I can always declare war with Kumo and steal you away." There was a humorous tone in his voice but it seems like Ino didn't appreciate it.

"Well, it's too late, _now_." She glared at him. "I don't want to be stolen by anyone at the moment."

"Hmm."

"Why do you sound so skeptic?" Ino demanded.

"You've been so busy with everyone. Sasuke, Genma," He eyed her. "I am curious actually, did you sleep with Genma too?"

Slap.

Neji had expected her to yell at him out of rage but she stayed silent after that, Kakashi was the one who continued to talk. It seems like it was more like her answer for his previous question.

"No, then. The point is, you don't have time for me."

"How is it becoming my fault?" Ino asked in a high pitched tone. "I don't need to spare time for you, Sensei. You're not my boyfriend, we're just sleeping together."

"That's cruel." Kakashi said that like he didn't mean it.

"And this is the last time we're doing this. I have a husband waiting for me at Kumo."

"Darui's not your husband."

"Soon to be husband."

"Let's see." Kakashi grinned behind his mask. "Now that I said it, the idea of stealing you away sounds fascinating."

" You know what? Tsunade doesn't have to actually send four people to ensure the wedding. I'm not going to let anything, or anyone, or _you_, change that anyway." Ino retorted and then she let out a scoff. "You're just bitter because you're going to lose your friend for benefit. You should find a new one, Sensei. I heard Anko-san is looking for opening."

There was smugness in Kakashi's laugh after. "You don't understand, Ino-chan." He said. "I love you."

And then he kissed her.

XXX

Even as they arrived 5 days later in Kumo, Neji was still processing the event he saw on their first night. He tried to shrug it off and focused himself with Lee in his foolery and meaningless skits, but it apparently doesn't put his mind to rest. Tenten was of course the first to realize this, her time with him all these years made her able to see through his discomposure even though he didn't show it. She had asked him why, but he only gave her a smile and shrugged her off.

"Welcome to Kumo!" A red haired kid greeted them at the gate with a wide smile across his face.

"Ino-neechan, I've been waiting for you!" He said and Ino beamed back at him.

"Yukai! It's been too long! War's the last time we met, right?"

"Uhm, Ino-chan. If I may inquire, who's this little kid with green hair?" Lee asked Ino and Yukai looked offended at the question.

"I'm not a little kid, y'know." He said, looking at Lee with annoyance.

"So somebody did get ahead of me." A blonde young man approached the team. Neji recognized him as C of the sensory division. He took a quick glance at each one of them before finally landed his gaze on Ino.

"We've got the letter from Kuromaru." He said. "Someone's eager, hm?" He gave Ino a teasing smirk which Ino replied with the same expression.

"I woke up one day and realized that I can't be away from my handsome fiance a minute more."

"Said handsome fiance was on a mission though." C said as he turned around. "Come, follow me, Konoha shinobi. The Raikage requested your presence."

"Then it's time for me to take off, everyone. See you later, Ino-neechan." Yukai said and in a matter of a second, he was already out of sight.

"Darui's on a mission?" Ino said as he walked alongside C at the front of the team. Neji could swore that there was a hint of relief on her voice.

"Yes, your letter took us all by surprise, actually. Not in a bad way, but still."

"I'm sorry if it's so sudden." Ino said.

"It is so sudden." C agreed. "But, well, don't be sorry. A-sama was overjoyed. For the first time he did all his paperwork without Mabui yelling his ear off first."

"Tsunade-sama looks overjoyed too." Lee chimed into the conversation eagerly.

"Then it means you've done our and your village a big favor." C ended the conversation before he led the team to the inside of Raikage office. The Raikage was still as intimidating as Neji could ever remember but Neji could tell that he was in a generous mood. The hard line on his face Neji used to see was gone. A looked relaxed.

"Welcome to Kumogakure, Konoha shinobi, Ino." He eyed Ino and Ino gave her a respectful nod. Nothing interesting happened during the briefing with the Raikage and Neji found himself kept glancing toward Ino who looked like she was trying hard to keep her focus on the Raikage as well. Neji had agonized it for several days and he had chosen not to confront Ino about it, at least for now. There's no point on doing that and Ino will become more and more defensive toward main problem was that Neji was not so sure anymore that he wants Ino and to make matter worse, each time he tried to confront the problem, the image he saw earlier that night kept replaying in his mind. He hissed in annoyance as the image popped up in his head as they followed C who had the task to show them around Kumo. The tour eventually ended in front of the guest house they're staying in. After wishing them a good stay, C excused himself and they were left all alone.

"So, what are we doing here?" Tenten asked as they finished settling in. Ino threw herself to the couch and let out a relieved sigh.

"I don't know, resting? Is the trip not taking a toll on you?" She asked. She hugged a pillow and let out another relieved sigh. "These pillows are so comfy."

"You're right. Maybe we should go upstairs and have some … _girl_ talk." Tenten glanced at Neji with full of meaning and Ino giggled. Kakashi was already nowhere to be seen and Lee had excused himself saying that he wanted to try Kumo training ground which practically left Neji the only man in the house.

"Fine, I'll take a look around the village as well." He said. Tenten gave him a sorry smile as he closed the front door. Kumo was considerably much colder than Konoha, mostly because it was located near mountains and there are a lot less people wandering around the village compared to Konoha. Neji walked aimlessly around, as he looked at what the sidewalk was offering. It was mainly just shops after shops even though he did try to memorize each one of it should the need arise. There are some Kumo shinobi who were placed at the same division with him during the war who greeted him and they did some small talk to catch up, and from those talks, Neji found out that it seems like Kumo had been busy rebuilding the structure and trying to recover from the war. The war had indeed taking a toll on every village and the importance of alliance just kept getting stronger and stronger. Neji mused on this fact while he decided to treat himself a late lunch in one small soba stall his friend had recommended to him. It was then a voice greeted him.

"Ah, you were with Ino-neechan from earlier." He lifted his head to find golden eyes staring at him. It was the boy who greeted them on the gate earlier.

"Yes." Neji gave him a smile. "I never did catch your name though."

"I'm Yukai." He gave him a big grin and then he hesitantly looked at an empty seat next to him. "Are those seats empty? There are no more empty tables."

"Sure. Go ahead." Neji said and Yukai took a seat across of him.

"You must be Hyuuga Neji, right? My sister told me about your brave conduct of protecting your cousin." Yukai said eagerly after he ordered his order.

"Sister?" Neji frowned. Yukai indeed looked like someone he couldn't quite place.

"So you're here, Neji." Another voice called him and Neji turned around and his question was immediately answered. Dark red hair and golden eyes, the other only person who had that characterization was none other that Karui. Omoi was right behind her.

"It's been a long time, Karui, Omoi." Neji smiled.

"Yeah." Karui replied as she took next to Neji and Omoit took a seat next to Yukai.

"I bet you are on that arranged marriage mission, huh?" She asked and Neji nodded.

"I couldn't say that I'm glad with that." Karui said honestly. "Konoha and Kumo doesn't have really great history, after all."

"Indeed." Neji commented as he was reminded of his bitter past that involved a lot of Kumo.

"Ino-neechan is a great person." Yukai defended Ino. "She's the one who's tending me on the medic tent and connecting me to you at the process."

"Sure, sure." Karui brushed his brother off. It seems like it's not the first time Yukai had told her that.

"It's just that you don't trust Konoha enough, do you?" Neji asked.

"She might be a great person and all, but well, who knows what your Hokage tells you and her to do." Omoi reasoned and despite his suspicion toward Konoha, Neji found that his argument was not at all baseless.

"I don't see the importance of this marriage. Maybe the Kage just want to have some fun matchmaking people." Karui said as she received her bowl of soba.

"I heard that this marriage had been planned for a long time, what is happening, actually? Could there be another war brewing? I heard Iwa and Kiri had allied with each other one way or another."

"Oh please, you think too much, Omoi." Karui scoffed at his opinion.

"Anything is possible." Omoi said before slurping his own soba.

"I just hope that the girl doesn't back out now that she said that she wants to stay here to prepare for the marriage." Karui commented.

"Why is that?" Neji asked, he was reminded of his initial intention to sabotage the mission.

"A-sama was overjoyed and it's very rare to see him in such a good mood." Karui said. "The last time he's this happy was when our intel revealed that B-sensei is still alive."

"If Ino let her hopes down, only God knows what might happen." Omoi told him. "He's not the kind of person who'll just let anything off the hook, so there will be another war probably."

"What's with you and war, Omoi-niisan? Last war had proven to us that it's not in anyway advantaging and should be avoided at all cost." Yukai chimed in; having finished his soba in an even faster speed than Neji who ordered first.

"Yeah, someone got severe case of paranoia here. I was just going to say that A-sama was probably going to leash out on us and gave us a ton of paperworks." Karui eyed Omoi.

"No, war's total possibilty." Omoi defended his opinion. "Kumo and Konoha didn't have that great history and if the girl's backing away, what is she doing here then?"

"Well, she changed his mind, Omoi. It doesn't mean that she's on secret mission or something. A girl can have a change of heart." Karui said.

"Well, what if it was Darui who has a change of heart?" Neji asked. The three Kumo shinobi laughed at his question.

"Darui-san devoted his life for A-sama. He won't back away as long as A-sama doesn't order otherwise." Yukai told Neji. Neji frowned.

"Back to the war, I heard your dad died during war between Kumo and Konoha years ago." Omoi looked at him. "So sorry man,"

Neji shrugged his head and then he lifted his shoulder. "I've overcome my hatred toward Kumo years ago as well, so it doesn't matter anymore."

"Speaking of which, it's you and your team's job too, right? To ensure Ino's marriage?" Karui asked.

"It is."

"So, war or not, we could totally depend on Neji-san, right?" Yukai asked as he eyed him with full of hopes.

"I'll do my best." Neji said, he was not so sure of his answer anymore.

"I bet, you wouldn't want tragedy that befalls you years ago to repeat after all, would you?" Omoi asked and Neji fell silent.

Omoi had a point on that.

XXX

"NEJI!" Lee opened the door of their shared room in dramatically two days after Neji's conversation with Yukai, Karui and Omoi. Neji, who was studying a scroll at the desk, turned his head to see Lee's reddened face.

"What is it?" Neji asked as he stood up and approached his teammate.

"This is bad! Ino is … Ino is ..."

"What happen with Ino?" He asked calmly even though worried started to seep through.

"I was doing my three thousand laps around Kumo and then I was lost in a forest. The forest was so green and so I thought that it must be a forest of youth." Lee told him.

"You know the forest of youth, don't you Neji?" Lee asked excitedly. "It is said that ..."

"Lee, please don't get sidetracked. We are talking about Ino." Neji told him and Lee gasped in realization.

"Yes! How kind of you Neji to remind me that." Lee nodded. "It seems like Kakashi-sensei and Ino was ..." Lee's face reddened.

"They were doing the symbol of eternal love!"

Neji frowned at his symbolization of eternal love but didn't have the time to question about that. He was so vexed by Ino and Kakashi's behavior.

Really? Here, in Kumogakure? Isn't it a little bit too much?

"What did you do then?"

"I run as fast as I can to tell you."

"Good. Don't tell anyone, Lee. This is a very delicate matter. Will you please find Tenten? We are going to have a meeting right now." Neji said. He was not the mission leader, but measures had to be taken. Lee nodded and ran to fetch Tenten. Neji went to the living room and was about to go search for Kakashi and Ino when the two of them went in. Both of them could read people well enough to tell that Lee had told Neji everything.

"So Lee told you," Ino asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that enveloped the room.

"He's fetching Tenten now, after that we'll talk about this." Neji deadpanned. Kakashi took a seat at a recliner and read his Icha Icha novel and stayed silent. Neji wondered how he could keep calm about this, don't he understand how dangerous the position Konoha in if it weren't Lee who found them but some other Kumo ninja instead? Ino, Neji could understand. But Kakashi was not usually as reckless as that.

Not so long after, Lee brought Tenten home and Neji told her the situation. Tenten gasped and looked at Ino in disbelief. Ino let out a smile at her and Neji had a feeling that if the situation was so serious, Tenten wouldn't have taken it so seriously either and they would just have those 'girl talk' again.

"Don't you understand how dangerous that is?" Neji asked finally. It was the question he had been wanting to ask.

"The area was supposed to be safe." Ino said. "Lee got lost and get lucky … or unlucky. That's all."

"It's not safe if Lee could easily find you." Neji told her.

"The genjutsu I set up only work with the Kumo shinobi," Kakashi chimed in suddenly. "We never expect Lee to go there out of all places."

"And you're supposed to marry Darui, Ino." Neji looked at her and Ino looked away.

"Don't worry, Neji. She had all the intentions in the world to marry Darui." Kakashi told Neji who scoffed skeptically at that.

"While sleeping with you on the side?"

"Neji, please don't be too hard." Tenten said and Neji looked at her with disbelief.

"There could be another war because of this. Is it just that hard to understand? More casualties, more death, just because you can't keep your desire properly."

"I fully understand, Neji." Ino said. "I'm sorry, Kakashi and I were just fooling around. There will be no next time, I promise." She said.

"I got hesitant for a second that's all." She added meekly.

"That doesn't justify you sleeping with other man." Neji said. Ino looked down and Kakashi stayed silent, it seems like he figured out that they would get nothing but lectures so he didn't take much part on it. Neji looked at Ino's figure and took a deep breath.

God, he was jealous.

He was enraged because it's Kakashi she was snooping around with, enraged because it's Darui she was engaged to. Neji knew deep down from the very first start, that he still wants Ino so much, even as the events unfold before him. However, the premonition of war scared him even more. He didn't want anybody else died. He didn't want his tragic past repeated to him, or to anyone else. He loved Ino, but he knew the instant he talked with Omoi earlier that afternoon that he had lost his battle.

"Listen, Ino. I'm going to ensure your marriage to Darui. At all cost."

It will be his ultimate sacrifice.

**OH MY GOD IT'S FINALLY DONE TT^TT**

**Anyway, about the 'sleeping' topic, I shouldn't change the rating just because I mention it right? Right?**

**I know it's a little bit twisted and there's not much of Neji-Ino here.**

**My friend read this fic and said that "Seriously? You make Ino eleven-timing people?"**

**I figured that I should cut down the number then … Hmm.**

**ANYWAY, THOUGHTS AND REVIEWS PLEASE :) IT WILL BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED :)**


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